User Experience
User Experience (UX) and User Interfaces (UI) can be after thoughts for many
developers and is often considered not to be "real" development.
As this is often the only visibility of the final application to the real world,
it can be argued that it is one of the most important aspects of the solution.
Many factors are involved with UX, not limited to how pretty the colours on the
screen are.
Factors such as:
- Intuitive layout & flow
- Design that is pleasing to the eye
- Colour scheme that is consistent and appropriate to the application
are all factors that must be taken into account in the design phase. It is key to
know what the user needs to be able to do at any given stage of using the application
and ensure that not only the UI, but the underlying domain model can facilitate
those actions.
Development
Artemis West Ltd prefers the
Presenter First design principle along with an
MVP design pattern. This allows for quick, testable development with
a UI that complies with the function specifications. Rails-like frameworks (MonoRail in Asp.net
or the soon to be released
ASP.Net MVC framework) facilitate this in web development while factories
like the
Smart Client Software Factory or the soon to be released
Acropolis assist in creating client applications.