Internet Entrepreneurs Blog

As more and more software applications are migrating to the web it’s interesting to consider the various interface styles designers are using. Unfortunately it seems like many application designers making the move from desktop to browser interface are attempting to mimic Windows on the web. Others, however, are using the switch to rethink the idea of a user interface with great success. Some of our least favorite we based software interfaces that feel a little too Windows:

Joomla

The open source content management software is, like Windows, powerful software. Too bad it’s no fun to use. The Vista-style icons are a little too cutesy and the drop down menus are painful to use online. Some may not agree with me but I have never seen a javascript drop-down menu implementation that I liked - they are all awkward and mainly useless. If you have so many navigation links that you absolutely need drop-down menus I’d argue that your navigation is probably overly complex.

Volusion (click the thumbnail to see the full size images)

Back when I was shopping for an e-commerce solution the admin interface was a very important factor in making my decision. My partner and I ended up choosing Volusion partly because it had one of the best admin interfaces around - but it still has plenty of room for improvement. Like most other packages, the color scheme is clearly Windows inspired with lots of blues and grays. In an attempt to make the product editor form more ‘user friendly’ most of the form fields are hidden by default (much like the way MS likes to hide unused menu options in Office apps). Once you expand all the form fields to finally find the one field you wanted to change you realize you’re in way over your head - how many fields do you need for a single product listing!?

phpMyAdmin

First, let me say I love phpMyAdmin - I honestly couldn’t function without it on a daily basis. It’s a solid tool that does what it’s supposed to do and for the most part it’s easy to use. My biggest complaint is that the interface seems to drastically change with each new revision. The version I’m using now has gone to using icons to represent actions which is almost never a good interface decision. I always forget which little icon means ‘browse’ and which one means ‘properties’. Database administration software is rightfully complex but the constant interface changes and use of icons adds unnecessary frustration for users.

In a later post I plan on talking about some of the web software interfaces that are getting things right. Surprisingly the number of good interfaces I use on a daily basis outweigh the bad ones - stay tuned!

This entry was posted on Friday, June 13th, 2008 at 6:56 am and is filed under Web software. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.