a Tuesday feature
After last week's column I received several mails (ok more than 30, less than 100) asking about how I would go about designing the look and feel of our custom Xtra. This is a very good question. MUI ?
A Look At the Macromedia Guidelines for the Look, Feel, and Organization of our Xtras!
One of the first things I did was take a close look at the information Macromedia provides on MUI, the Macromedia User Interface. True, I did overlook discussing this in our previous columns, but it fits into our current schedule perfectly. So here is some information from Macromedia on the MUI, and the five layers it is made up of. This should cover everything we need to know about the subject.
MUI consists of five layers, which can be compared to an architectural model.
- Layer one, "look," is the foundation of MUI. It determines a product's visual style, from the size and appearance of text and icons to the design of windows, toolbars, and palettes. A strong visual style lets a user recognize at first glance that an application is a member of Macromedia Studios. Look can be compared to the architectural style of the building as a whole.
- Layer two is product organization. When similar features are organized consistently across products, the user can easily find commands, editors, and controls, and predict where to locate a specific feature. Product organization is similar to a floor plan--a familiar floor plan makes it easy to find your way around the building.
- Layer three consists of common functional components such as property windows, command dialogs, text rulers, and inspectors that can work the same way even in very different applications. Common functional components can be thought of as standard designs for areas that are common to every building.
- Layer four, "interaction," includes patterns for frequent actions such as manipulating a selected object, dismissing a dialog, or using a command-key equivalent--actions that eventually become second nature but can really slow users down if they have to think about them. Interaction techniques are similar to a work flow for common activities.
- Layer five, "common shortcuts," defines the acceleration methods that give users quick access to functions that they use repeatedly. For example, a user can bypass the menu by double clicking an object to open an editor window. Acceleration methods are like standard shortcuts through the building to frequently used areas.
MUI is based on sound graphical user interface principles, adapted for the special requirements of digital arts, multimedia, and video applications by Macromedia. As the standard for all Macromedia applications, MUI will grow as new application features are developed, and as new applications become part of Macromedia Studios.
Next week, we will have the first look at our original code for the internet.com Xtra. Until then, keep those questions coming.
