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A good deal of these techniques are applicable in an intranet setting, but are there any design tips for non-designers working on internal backend web tools? T

A good deal of these techniques are applicable in an intranet setting, but are there any design tips for non-designers working on internal backend web tools? The emphasis, of course, is on usability for long-term users. I'm not really concerned about users being able to easily learn the interface or grabbing their attention one way or the other; they are going to be trained to do that. I am more interested in making it convenient and usable for long-term users who are going to be using this software almost 40 hours a week. The vast majority of the app is asking for a few variables of input, showing tables of output, and pages of links to the forms that provide this functionality. Really boring stuff, but there is probably room for improving the usability and readability of the forms/tables.

run4yourlives 18y ago
The emphasis, of course, is on usability for long-term users. I'm not really concerned about users being able to easily learn the interface The solution to your problem lies buried in this sentence.
mahipal 18y ago
A good interface is intuitive, in the sense of both easily learnable and easily usable. I don't think you can really decouple the two. It sounds like you're mostly just displaying giant blocks of text, so I'd recommend this excellent slideshow on web typography: http://www.slideshare.net/jeff_croft/elegant-web-typography-presentation http://www.slideshare.net/jeff_croft/elegant-web-typography-... It's a bit long, but very thorough and very helpful for content-heavy design -- and it gives you exactly the CSS you need. To summarize it very briefly: a little bit of white space goes a long way. It's also worth putting a little bit of thought into styling the forms, especially since unstyled web forms can be really hideous. Here's a quick walk-through of styling a web form: http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/css/css-forms.shtml http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/css/css... Obviously a contrived example, and you wouldn't want so many fancy colors in a professional setting. But the key point there is to align everything nicely, and go to the trouble of grouping related fields using fieldsets and legends.
ig1 18y ago
Have a look at "Information Dashboard Design" by Stephen Few, I also found "The Non-designer's Design Book" by Robin Williams very good but it's more concerned with general design principle then the specific stuff you're interested in.
ahoyhere 18y ago
The #1 bit of advice I'd give you: avoid Tons Of Data Just Lying There Syndrome. Data is FOR something. In and of itself it is not useful. This something may be actions the user will want to take. It may also be mean taking raw data and coming up with metrics or other useful indicators. Too many info "dashboards" just sit there, tons of stuff slapped on without this sense of actionable purpose / context.
ahoyhere 18y ago
Also, ignore everyone who thinks that quickly onramping newbs is the highest goal of interface. Everything in moderation. There is a big difference between the needs of Flickr and the needs of a professional analytical tool. The key issues are A) legibility, B) smart information usage/display/actionableness, C) proper metaphors, D) faultless internal consistency.

run4yourlives 18y ago

The emphasis, of course, is on usability for long-term users. I'm not really concerned about users being able to easily learn the interface The solution to your problem lies buried in this sentence.

mahipal 18y ago

A good interface is intuitive, in the sense of both easily learnable and easily usable. I don't think you can really decouple the two. It sounds like you're mostly just displaying giant blocks of text, so I'd recommend this excellent slideshow on web typography: http://www.slideshare.net/jeff_croft/elegant-web-typography-presentation http://www.slideshare.net/jeff_croft/elegant-web-typography-... It's a bit long, but very thorough and very helpful for content-heavy design -- and it gives you exactly the CSS you need. To summarize it very briefly: a little bit of white space goes a long way. It's also worth putting a little bit of thought into styling the forms, especially since unstyled web forms can be really hideous. Here's a quick walk-through of styling a web form: http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/css/css-forms.shtml http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/css/css... Obviously a contrived example, and you wouldn't want so many fancy colors in a professional setting. But the key point there is to align everything nicely, and go to the trouble of grouping related fields using fieldsets and legends.

ig1 18y ago

Have a look at "Information Dashboard Design" by Stephen Few, I also found "The Non-designer's Design Book" by Robin Williams very good but it's more concerned with general design principle then the specific stuff you're interested in.

ahoyhere 18y ago

The #1 bit of advice I'd give you: avoid Tons Of Data Just Lying There Syndrome. Data is FOR something. In and of itself it is not useful. This something may be actions the user will want to take. It may also be mean taking raw data and coming up with metrics or other useful indicators. Too many info "dashboards" just sit there, tons of stuff slapped on without this sense of actionable purpose / context.

ahoyhere 18y ago

Also, ignore everyone who thinks that quickly onramping newbs is the highest goal of interface. Everything in moderation. There is a big difference between the needs of Flickr and the needs of a professional analytical tool. The key issues are A) legibility, B) smart information usage/display/actionableness, C) proper metaphors, D) faultless internal consistency.