Making the interface easy to prioritise
29 March 2010
Sometimes the user interface (UI) is the most saleable aspect of a mobile device, yet often it is left to last in terms of design. A new Windows-based tool brings the dual advantages of ease use and speed of development.
The new tool is called SnapUI and has been launched by design consultancy ByteSnap Design. Graeme Wintle, director of ByteSnap Design said: “SnapUI solves one of the classic software development pitfalls. User interfaces are often overlooked in the rush to get a good application finished, and vice versa. SnapUI is not only fast, lightweight and standards-based, but allows a wide range of UI styles to be displayed from a single application. For example, it’s possible to use multiple designs to target different user groups within a single release.”
Graphical User Interfaces are growing in popularity as LCD and touchscreen technology becomes more widely used in consumer devices. However, cluttered interfaces or difficult navigation can damage market perceptions of even well-designed applications.
Most existing user interface tools are more suited to desktop application development or use the .net framework which can negatively impact performance on Windows CE devices. However, SnapUI is based on a lightweight UI framework for Windows CE devices, which has no negative effects on performance and is easy to use by application developers and graphic designers. In fact, graphic designers need little knowledge of underlying application and can focus on the UI: designers and customers can amend and edit the interface on their own without needing experts to re-compile code – all on the desktop before deploying to the target Windows CE devices.
One of SnapUI’s key strengths is its small code footprint. This is because the user interface is defined in a configuration file (XML) rather than a programming language. With SnapUI, developers no longer need to recompile an application to update changes to the user interface, instead a developer only needs to update the UI file. Developers can now demonstrate the UI either on a PC or directly on the embedded device, so development of the device can take place in parallel with development of the UI.
SnapUI enables graphic designers to edit an application's UI independently from the core of the application itself. This means that designers can amend and edit the UI design while developers work on customising core application functionality, resulting in improved usability and reduced development time. SnapUI user interfaces can be developed and demonstrated on Windows desktop machines before being deployed to the target Windows CE platforms.
The separation of the UI and application has additional implications for localisation and corporate branding as a single application can now be designed with multiple interfaces. Through a single XML file and a selection of images an application's look and feel can be completely customised, often without additional developer input. SnapUI also uses specific interface files to match the screen resolution of the final device, which allows flexible ‘skinning’ of the application. This means that the same UI design can be rapidly adapted for different screen resolutions.
The product also allows developers to choose which sets of buttons/fields/widgets to show to the user, enabling different user interface files to be written for the same application, exposing completely different functionality from the same core application.
ByteSnap, incidentally, were highly commended in the Best Added Value Product category of the recent ICT Excellence Awards 2009. The commended product was the Windows CE Plogg Network Controller (PNC). The PNC is a device that is installed in consumers’ homes and businesses in order to allow utilities to control the electricity used within their building. It does this by creating an interface between the internet and appliances using a Zigbee wireless network.
Contact Details and Archive...
Related Articles...
Most Viewed Articles...