I am going to preface this article with the simple fact that, I am not a software or web developer. I am a business developer. My job is to sell custom application development services both thick and thin to Fortune 500 companies. Over the past few years, more and more of my sales have been thin client application services. Like most new technology services, as the demand for thin client services grows and applications both good and bad infiltrate the market, the consumer's savvy about the service increases. Therefore, I think it is important to understand the environment in which we are selling and developing web-based applications, so we can best serve our clients and our community. Last year, my job was easy. The thin client application proved the perfect mistress for Big Business. Her sleek curves fit so nicely into that perfect size 2 web, that many companies simply kicked their thick client ball and chains out of bed to make room for their newer, sleeker applications. Companies, dazzled by the buzz-word feature list of connectivity, distributability and portability, showered billions on thin application development and ASPs. Companies imagined all the headaches they would be rid of if they simply slimmed down their thick client applications. Gone would be the migraines and eye twitches caused by program installations, updates, synchronizing or replicating geographically diverse databases and maintaining dissimilar systems to coordinate with one another. But, just when the trusty Tylenol was about to hit the trash bin, thin client complaints of sluggishness and unwieldy user interfaces came pouring in. So, what happened? Let's start first with natural evolution; as any product grows in the marketplace, the consumer becomes savvy and starts asking more questions and demanding better performance. That was expected. But, what wasn't expected was that many companies that bought in early to the thin client ideal were left disappointed with their new solutions. Complaints centered on the fact that the new apps just didn't measure up in responsiveness, features and general usability to their thick client predecessors. Many companies, after a brief trial of their new systems, felt compelled to supplement them with thick client applications while others simply tossed the new development all together when users failed to adopt the thin client solutions. Why were clients dissatisfied with thin client applications? In the beginning, there was the Web Designer. And the Web Designer created the thin client business application. The problem was that what worked on the web did not work in a business application. By approaching application architecture as they would web site design, early Internet application developers, unknowingly, neglected the basic business application methodology of incorporating visual metaphors and process flow into an overall user interface for easy navigation. They replaced a client's familiar, visual and feature rich application with a functional but flat web version that was confusing for users to navigate. The inevitable outcome was that users weren't comfortable with the applications and didn't adopt them into their business routines, leaving the customer dissatisfied with the product. With a glut of these badly designed applications in the marketplace, businesses became savvy to what was wrong with thin client applications and a bit disenchanted with what web developers were selling. And that is where we are at. So, what's the solution? As more business application developers have embarked upon thin client development and more web developers have educated themselves on application architecture, a new breed of web-based applications emerged. These applications fuse web technologies like Ajax that improve responsiveness with proven application development methodology and solid user-interface design that extend usability. These types of thin apps are still very new to the market and swimming in the deep end of the pool with a school of poorly designed peers, but they exist and that gives me hope. It gives me hope that there are thin applications that can go head to head with thick client applications in feature set, responsiveness and usability yet maintain the benefits that attracted so many companies to thin client apps in the first; namely, connectivity, distributability and portability. What will give you the edge in the marketplace and satisfy your client? It's simple. Do the homework. After you have laid out a feature set with the client ask yourself these five easy usability questions:

1. What does the thick client application you are replacing do and what are its specific features that make it valuable to the customer?
2. How does the user navigate the application? Look at the tool bars and menus to determine what users are accustomed to seeing.
3. How does the program limit the navigation of the user to a specific process to improve data quality and/or job function efficiency?
4. Are there visual cues that direct a user to the next task or do specific visual metaphors indicate a milestone or suggest an error?
5. Are certain sets of data grouped together in forms for ease of use and efficiency?

Now, from your feature set and the answers to these simple usability questions you should be able to design a clear development plan that incorporates the appropriate feature set and user interface to most closely mimic the thick client application. Your applications should use toolbars, menus and visual cues familiar to the user, while limiting navigation to a process that specifically improves data quality and job function efficiency. It is a difficult transition, but repeat the goal of your application like a mantra. GOAL: To decrease transition time from the old thick client to the new thin client application for the specific purpose of saving a company training time and improving user adoption. The only way to effectively accomplish this is by emulating a thick client experience in the thin client environment. That doesn't mean going overboard with graphics, but it does mean using them wisely to benefit user experience. Please view the article entitled 'It's about the controls' to see examples of thin client components.

Related Posts

RSS and Other Stuff
Forms with moo.fx part 2
FRIA, the other, other lame buzz word
Our Guarantee
Pro Sales 4 All, Inc.

---