[Design] Re: [Cosmo] Styleguide Notes + Follow-up

[Priscilla Chung]

Here is my list: http://wiki.osafoundation.org/Journal/ 
OrderOfImportanceWebUI
-Priscilla

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*First order UI elements: What needs to pop, etc...*

In my opinion, *no more than three items* should stand out on the UI.  
Of course a rule of three is always a useful guideline, but the point  
is that if there is more then three items, then everything is popping  
and nothing does.

Making items stand out are created visually by color, size, and  
location/layout. Here are the three items which I consider as first  
order UI elements:
+ Logo. This represents the branding. It is the only identity for the  
product and you need to show the value of the product. At this point  
the value of the product are the events, the calendar and the  
dashboard triage. What does the user think about when they first look  
at the screen? What's going on? The user is going here for a reason  
for some relevant information specific to them.
+ The items in the table (on the dashboard), since it is the default  
screen and holds all the item information in the collection. It is  
the most important element on the screen. In the case of when the  
user selects calendar view, it is the calendar canvas and the lozenges.
+ Critical errors. For example, this collection has been deleted and  
the web UI is no longer functional. These are currently displayed as  
dialog boxes which are center to the screen and the user is not able  
to do anything on the web UI until they dismiss the dialog box.

So I changed this category and created a new one because this sounded  
too a bit too close to the first category
'Stuff users need to see immediately, whether or not they're looking:'

*Stuff which needs to pop only when the user focuses on it or a  
specific task*

What do I mean? These are stuff normally in the background until the  
user does something to bring it to the foreground. It's really  
important to see event details when you select an event, but not all  
the time.

+ Detail view: this should be emphasized only when a user clicks on  
an event/item. This includes the save and remove button on the detail  
view since there is no auto save.
+ Quick item entry in the dashboard: This is the dashboard equivalent  
of creating an event in calendar.
+ View selector from calendar/dashboard view: This dual view is key  
to the product
+ Highlight on the lozenge or item in the dashboard
+ Mini cal to figure out the date of the event
+ Mark up tool bar
+ Triage toggle


*Stuff users need to be find easily when looking for them ie. how to  
subscribe*
+ Subscribe drop down list for users who want to move the information  
into their own calendaring application, export .ics files, feed  
reader etc. (I'm a bit confused if this is really a top level item or  
should be down by where users should easily find. If a user is going  
to use their own application and not the web UI, then this should be  
a top level item. If this is some one who uses the application then  
it should be a third level item. In any case, I guess I'll just leave  
it here for now—specifically for 2 different users.)
+ Alert bar for warning such as time zone information. This is  
temporary and does not need to be in the user's face such as the  
serious error dialogs. This is more of an informational dialog,  
things will work on the application, but the information viewed may  
not be accurate unless the user does something or sometimes, there is  
no ability to fix it just yet.
+ Sign up for an account: As I see it, services on the web as I see  
it is very much a 'try before you buy'. It's important for user to  
know where to sign up, but it's more important for users to *want* to  
sign up.
+ Add collection to account/log in: If you're logging in you're  
already sold.


*Stuff users can find on their own time ie. as ppl will use the ui,  
they will discover it.*
+ Tabbing to all of the form elements to creating an item on the  
detail view.
+ E-mail this event
+ Go to date
+ Forward back buttons on calendar and pagination on dashboard.

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On Apr 25, 2007, at 6:22 AM, Mimi Yin wrote:

> + Bucketize UI elements into 3 categories:
> - Stuff users need to see immediately, whether or not they're looking
> - Stuff users need to be find easily when looking for them
> - Stuff users can find on their own time

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