By Theresa Neil

Since the book focuses on rich interactions, I want to spend some time on Adobe Flex/AIR.

These tips are based on the best Flex resources I have found, and how you can use them to craft a great user experience. This is part 4 of 6:

• Play With It: 10 Explorers & Galleries
• Learn From the Best: 10 Great Flex Apps
• Learn From the Rest: 10 Great RIAs
• Stock Your Toolbox: 40+ Custom Flex Controls
• Review Best Practices for Designing a RIA
• Avoid Common Mistakes: 10 Anti-Patterns

Stock your Toolbox: 40+ Custom Flex Controls

Flex 3 includes a wide range of controls. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have all of the Essential Controls I use for RIA design. But fortunately, talented and industrious Flex developers have created numerous custom controls for Flex.

I pulled together a visual repository of custom Flex controls. Most of these controls were created to showcase certain functionality- not usability best practices. So some may need further refinement to comply with the usability principles discussed in the previous posts. Click on the picture for the demo.

01. Accordions

Complex Headers

Horizontal Accordion


Apple Style
More under ‘Collapsible Panels’

02. Auto Complete

More Examples

03. Bar Code Generator

04. Build a List

05. Calendar/Scheduler

ILog Elixir

Ely Greenfield’s early Scheduler

Adobe’s Scheduler on flexlib see flexlib.scheduling package

06. Captcha

07. Charts & Graphs

3D charts by iLog Elixir

Chart Drill Down with Animation

Dashed Line Series

Chart Offest

Advanced Legend

Scroll and Zoom

08. Collapsible Panels

Window Shade- panels roll up and down

Arc90’s Collapsible Panel

Early Stacked Panels

09. Cover Flow

Doug McCune’s updated Cover Flow

10. Data Visualization

Kap IT Lab
ILog Elixir
BirdEye

11. Docking

12. Drop Down Menu with Scrolling

13. Find and Highlight Text

In flexlib as Highlighter

14. Fisheye Menu (like Mac Dock)

15. Flip Card

16. Floating

17. Gantt Chart

ILOG Elixir Gantt

Doug McCune’s Early Gantt Chart

18. Inline Edit (Fields)

Early example by Ely Greenfield

Modal editing variation by Ryan Swanson
* The hover invitation to edit on a field by field basis (like Flickr) works best for infrequent edits

19. Icon Loader

On flexlib under Icon Loader

20. List/Tree Converter

On flexlib under Convertible Tree List

21. Mask (text input and validation)

On Adobe Flex Exchange

22. Multiple Document Interface (MDI)

On flexlib under flexlib.mdi

23. Magnify

24. Map Callouts

23. Pan and Zoom

24. Page Turn

Peek Panel by Bill White (nice blog)
Ely Greenfield’s early FlexBook

Didier Braun’s PageFlip

25. Pivot Table

Satish’s Pivot Table

Flex Monster product

26. Resize

Resizeable and moveable window

Resize Objects with ResizeManagerFX

27. Scrolling-Internal

In flexlib as Drag Scrolling Canvas

28. Side Tabs/Vertical Tabs

Degrafa ToggleButtonBar vertical tabs


Vertical Tab Navigator

29. Sliders

30. Sliding Panel

Early example
Slide out menu with effects instead of states

31. Sparklines

More examples:
Fusion Charts
Sherlock Informatics
Birdeye
19nates

32. Spell Check

There is also a Spell Check component on Flex Exchange

33. Tabs (configurable)

34. Text Prompt/ Watermark Fields

At flexlib under prompting TextInput

35. Tree Table

Early Tree Grid

36. Time Picker

Alternate one on Flex Exchange as Time Chooser

37. Toolbars

38. Trees

Open branches by clicking on the row
Adding leaf notes
Showing XML
Rearranging nodes with drag and drop
Drag from a Grid to a Tree

39. Upload Files

40. Vertical Browse

Comment with your custom Flex controls

Please comment with a link to your favorite custom Flex controls.

By Theresa Neil

As Bill mentioned in an earlier post, we don’t want to limit this blog to just the principles and patterns found in the book. For that you can check out our Explore the Book section.

This is the third article in a three part series on patterns and principles for RIA design.

Standard Screen Patterns: 12 patterns w/100 examples
Essential Controls: 30 controls for RIA design and development
Common Component Patterns: 15 patterns and examples

Odds are good if you are designing a enterprise software or a productivity web application, you’ll need a number of these components. Don’t spend time and effort on (re)designing these ancillary features- try these solutions instead.

01. Add Another

Wufoo (button)

Gmail (link)

Requirement: Need to offer multiple input fields for the same thing, but unsure how many the user may need
Example: Add attachments, enter phone numbers, upload photos…
Description: The “add another” link or button should be in proximity to the field, and the remove option is shown an attachment is added, and only one “add another” link is shown at a time. No need to show the remove button until at least one entry is shown.

02. Add/Manage Tags

Highrise (inline edit)

Mint (dialog)

Requirement: Need a way to add non-structured meta data to an object that can later be searched
Example: While adding recruits to a CRM system, the recruiter wants to note applicants’ interests and hobbies
Description: Place the tags in close proximity to the object being taggged. Allow for direct adding of additional tags and editing. You can take the 37signals approach and let users type in any tags they want- running the risk of duplicate, misspelled or overlapping concept tags. Or use Mint’s approach and let users select from the existing list of tags, and/or add new ones.

03. Add/Edit or Select from Existing

Highrise

Requirement: Need to pick from an existing option, add a new option, or edit an existing option
Example: Recording receipts for household expenses, and there is not a category for pet/vet bills. Add a new category for “pets”, which will now show up as an option in the list
Description: Place the option for “add new…” at the bottom of the options. Open a new dialog or light weight layer to add the new option. Place edit to the right of the list box, edit can be a new screen or dialog for editing all the options.

04. Advanced Filter

Mission 360 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

Requirement: Need to refine the data set based on specified criteria
Example: In a bug tracking system, a developer needs to see all bugs assigned to him, in the last 24 hours, related to the production system, containing the term “feedback”
Description: Provide a dynamic filter field and offer an advanced filter option, where the user can specify criteria for refining the data set. Allow the criteria to be saved (usually as a ‘view’), that can be accessed again. Note* Luke W. has a great article describing multiple techniques for refining data tables.

05. Build a List (aka Accumulator)

LinkedIn

Requirement:Need to create a list from an existing set of options
Example: Invite some of your friends from your existing list of webmail contacts, or build a list of hot prospects for a sales campaign
Description: When a user needs to select items from separate sets of search results or other large, unwieldy data sets- let them manipulate the left (search, sort, navigate or filter), and add to the right.

06. Build an Expression (aka Predicate Editor)

Wufoo

Mac OS predicate editor inspired web versions of this component

Requirement: Need to define a set of conditions that build on each other.
Example: Complex search or building a report filter, or building a mathematical function
Description: Design it so the expression can be read, left to right, top to bottom. Each line can be edited, removed, or deleted, and possibly rearranged in order.

07. Contextual Toolbar

Picnik

Requirement: Need to perform an action that has multiple input parameters
Example: Analyst needs to apply a discount to all the rows in a table, clicks the ‘discount’ tool. The discount options: discount percent [10%] or flat rate discount [$0.00], are then provided.
Description: Group the actions in a toolbar, and as one is selected, disclose the input parameters. Offer a live preview if applicable.

08. Customizable Data Grid

Flexigrid demo

Requirement: Need robust data grid from viewing, editing and manipulating data
Example: A CRM system with contacts displayed in a table/data grid
Description: Offer simple and advanced filtering, ability to directly resize columns, ability to directly rearrange columns, hide/show columns, sorting. If also providing editing, provide a toolbar that includes undo and redo actions.

09. Drag & Drop Reorder

Basecamp

Cogmap

Requirement: Need to reorder a text list, visual map, or tree because the order is indicative of priority or hierarchical relationship
Example: To-do list, org chart, tree
Description: Make sure to follow the interaction principles for all the states of drag and drop management, most importantly providing a visual cue the list can be rearranged, like the drag handles in the examples. Refer to Bill’s Interesting Moments Grid for implementing the interaction properly.

10. Full Screen

Picnik

RadEditor Demo

Requirement: Need more real estate for core functionality
Example:Editing a photo, designing a work flow, navigating a map
Description: Place the toggle in the top left corner (make sure it remains in the same spot and visible even in the full screen mode). The branding and top level navigation can be hidden in this mode. Don’t add any more elements into the full screen mode- just enlarge the workspace.

11. Graph Drill Down

Wesabe

Dundas Charts

Requirement: Need to show a summary view and allow a quick and efficient drill down to view more details, instead of navigating deeper into the graph
Example: A specific datapoint has multiple sets of information available. The main graph could show sales volume by sales person over time, and the hover detail breaks it down by new versus existing clients
Description: Provide a visual indicator (like a dot) that hover details are available. Use a non-modal layer to display the next level of data.

12. Live Preview

Fidelity MyPlan

Mint Savings Finder

Requirement: Need provide live feedback on changing criteria
Example: Graphic designer altering the hue of a photo needs to see the effect as he adjust the value
Description: Provide easy to manipulate controls, and an “apply” and “cancel” options, or “revert” feature.

13. Slide Down

RetailMeNot.com (inline)

Weight Watchers (overlay)

Requirement: Need to show more details, or input details
Example: Reading an article in a list of articles, scan the first paragraph and want to read more, or read the comments.
Description: Expand inline or overlay without leaving the page or opening a new window/dialog. Use smooth transitions and a fixed height scroll window like RetailMeNot. Provide the close link in the same spot.

14. Split a Transaction

Mint

Requirement: Need to allocate a single item across multiple categroies
Example: Dividing a transaction (ex. allocating a 50% of a donation to one recipient, and 50% to another recipient, or $2.00 as a fee, and $200.00 as cash withdraw)
Description: Split button placed unobtrusively in the transaction detail pane, could also be a tool in the table toolbar, enabled when a row is selected. Opens a dialog allowing the user to re-allocate the data as needed.

15. Switch To

Basecamp

Zoho

Requirement: Need to infrequently navigate out of one module into another without returning to a control panel, dashboard or dock
Example: Working in one project, finish and need to work on another one
Description: Make the switch less visually prominent than the main navigation, but still easily accessible (top right or left, above the main menu).

By Theresa Neil

As Bill mentioned in an earlier post, we don’t want to limit this blog to just the principles and patterns found in the book. For that you can check out our Explore the Book section.

This is the second article in a three part series on patterns and principles for RIA design.

Standard Screen Patterns: 12 patterns w/100 examples
Essential Controls: 30 controls for RIA design and development
Components for Commonly Requested Features: 15 patterns and examples

Every designer has a set of controls they rely on to communicate an effective UI. This is my library of essential controls.

Unfortunately, no single RIA framework offers all 30 of these. So I included a checklist of which frameworks provide each control. If you have an addition or correction, please e-mail me, and I will post an updated framework/control matrix.

The frameworks reviewed include: Flex, Laszlo, Silverlight and 12 Ajax frameworks and toolkits: ExtJS, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, SproutCore, LivePipeUI,IT Mill, Backbase.

01. Auto Suggest

Google’s Auto-Complete

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, IT Mill, Backbase, Silverlight.

02. Carousel (variation as Coverflow)

Carousel Prototype carousel widget

Supported by: YUI, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, ITMill, Backbase, iCarousel

Coverflow MediaEvent Service’s Slideflow

Supported by: Flex, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, RadControls for Silverlight

03. Charts & Graphs

Charts Advanced charting features like hover details, drill down, rolling windows, toggle views…

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery (SWF/Chart), MooTools, MochaUI, Backbase, SilverLight, AnyChart, Dundas, JPowered, JFreeChart, OpenFlashCharts, Flot, Plotr, PlotKit, WebFX, AjaxMcGraph, Measure Map.

04. Collapsible Panels (accordion, disclosure triangles, slide drawer)

Accordion Mutually exclusive collapsible panels showing status

Disclosure arrows Mint.com uses disclosure arrows for summarizing and displaying accounts

Sliding panel Fluxiom uses a sliding panel instead of a dialog to show the selected photo’s details

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs (called panels), Dojo, Google Web Toolkit (disclosure panel), Prototype/script.aculo.us (accordion), JQuery, MooTools (accordion), MochaUI (split pane), SproutCore (split pane), IT Mill, Backbase (accordion), RadControls for Silverlight (PanelBar and Sliding Panel).

05. Combobox (select multiple, alternate list box UI, editable)

Select multiple LivePipe UI’s control takes less space and is easier to scan than an ocean of checkboxes

Alternate listbox UI Best alternative for multi select in small spaces, clearly displays all selections, and provides an easy way to edit

Supported by: Alternate Listbox UI, LivePipeUI

Editable combobox Editable combobox allows for lookup and/or text entry

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools (MUI.ComboBox), IT Mill, Backbase, RadControls for Silverlight.

06. Date Picker/Calendar (select range, date/time combination)

Advanced calendar Select a range, discontinuous dates, or exclude a certain day

Date/time picker Select a date and time in a single control

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJS, Dojo, YUI, JQuery, Scal built on Prototype, MooTools, MochUI, IT Mill, Backbase, Silverlight, dhtmlxCalendar, keyboard accessible calendar, more examples on Woork

07. Dialogs (modal, light weight, lightbox)

Modal dialog Mint offers a modal for adding an account

Modeless dialog Google Maps provides a modeless dialog for getting directions

Lightbox JQuery provides a lightbox plugin, a modal dialog that blacks out the parent screen

Supported by: Flex(modal), Laszlo (modal and modeless), ExtJs (modal), Dojo (modal and lightbox), YUI( listed under Containers: Modal and Overlay), Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery (modal, modeless, lightbox) , SproutCore (has a really nice example of each under ‘panes’), MooTools, MochaUI, LivePipe UI, IT Mill, Backbase (modal and modeless window), Silverlight (modal and lightbox).

08. Docking

Dockable menu Campaign Manager by eyeblaster offers a pinned/unpinned menu for navigating between campaigns

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, LivePipe UI, Backbase, Silverlight.

09. Drag & Drop Manager

Drag and drop ExtJS photo organizer demo

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, LivePipe UI, Backbase, Silverlight.

10. Dynamic Filter

Dynamic table filtering Flex offers a filter feature that dynamically filters the results while the user types, demo

Dynamic column filtering Dynamic filtering can be implemented at the column level providing advanced filtering capabilities Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, JQuery, IT Mill, Backbase, Silverlight, Open Rico

11. Feedback/ Status

Feedback Gmail status message

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, LivePipe UI, IT Mill, Backbase, Silverlight

12. Fisheye/ Spotlight

Fisheye Apslab Fish-eye Lense

Apply this concept to a dense chart or map for a truly useful feature.

Supported by: Flex, ExtJs (spotlight), Dojo , Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, Silverlight

13. Gauges (and other visual progress or status indicators)

Gauge Thermometer gauge in RadControls for Silverlight

Gauges provide a concise visual summary in heads-up-display or other goal directed designs

Supported by: Flex (various plug-ins and Flex Charting), ExtJs (combined with GWT), Dojo, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery (SWF/Gauge), MooTools, MochaUI, Silverlight, AnyChart, Dundas

14. Help Tip/ Quick Tip

Quick Tip Picnik engages new users with some helpful advice

More than just a tooltip, these are fully formatted messages typically presented in a modeless dialog.

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI (use overlay container), Google Web Toolkit (use popup panel), Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, LivePipe UI (use window control), IT Mill, Backbase, Silverlight

15. Hot Keys

Hot keys Balsamiq Mockups has hot keys for frequent actions

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, Mochui, LivePipe UI, IT Mill, Backbase, Silverlight

16. Hover Action

Hover action Instead of cluttering the screen with redundant actions, Basecamp reveals the edit and delete actions onHover

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, YUI, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, Backbase, Silverlight, good post by Bill on hover actions and missed moments

17. Hover Detail

Hover detail Netflix hover details

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI (overlay), Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools (smart hover box), IT Mill, Silverlight

18. Inline Edit

Inline edit Instead of showing form fields in pages that are usually read (not edited), Flickr provides inline editing

Supported by: Flex (only in the grid), Laszlo (only in the grid), ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, IT Mill, Backbase (only in the grid), Silverlight (only in the grid)

19. Progress Indicator/ Loading

Progress indicator Picnik loading indicator

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, LivePipe UI, IT Mill, Backbase, Silverlight

20. Rating

Star rating Graffletopia offers one-click star ratings for shared stencils

Supported by: ExtJs extension, Dojo widget, Starbox for Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools , MochaUI

21. Record Locator/ Paginator

Record locator Like the control in PDF Viewer, the record locator lets you navigate through records in a dataset or skip to a specific record by name

Paginator Typically used for paging through tables, screens, or other result sets

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, LivePipe UI, Backbase, Silverlight

22. Slider

Slider Innography provides sliders in their quick filter for refining results displayed on a chart

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, IT Mill, Backbase, RadControls for Silverlight

23. Scoped Search

Scoped search Like iTunes, allows for the optional selection of a category before entering free form search text, example from Vimeo’s help page

Supported by: custom css and js code, example at Janko at warp speed, RadControls for Silverlight

24. Sparklines

Sparklines Great way to show the “shape” or trend of data is a small space, examples from RetailMeNot.com and Google Analytics. Created by Edward Tufte.

Supported by: Nuby on Rails, Any Chart, JQuery plugin, Flex , and two more ones for Flex at Microcharts and Birdeye, Google API, Visifire for Silverlight

25. Table/ Data Grid ( scrolling, editable, grouped)

Scrolling table Endless scrolling, no paging, just like a desktop app, example from ExtJS

Editable table Blist offers inline cell editing in their products. Best practice, highlight the selected row, and only display an editor in the selected cell. Don’t forget to accomodate keyboard navigation.

Tree table Grouping by row, displays as a tree table, example from ExtJS

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Backbase, Silverlight

26. Toolbar

Toolbar Provide actions in proximity to the object, examples from SugarSync and Flickr

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, Backbase, RadControls for Silverlight

27. Vertical Browser

Vertical browser Apple’s vertical browser for exploring Dashboard widgets

Supported by: custom code of multiple list boxes

28. View Toggle (buttons, button bar)

Toggle buttons Separate buttons for switching between graph and grid views Campaign Manager by eyeblaster

Toggle button bar Single button bar for capturing binary choices

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, Dojo, YUI, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, Backbase, Silverlight

29. WYSIWYG Editor/ Rich Text Editor

Rich text editor WordPress offers a a WYSIWYG editor for blogging

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, IT Mill, Backbase, Silverlight

30. Zoom

Zoom Zoom in on a certain spot, example from jQZoom

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs (spotlight), Prototype/script.aculo.us (zOOm), JQuery, MooTools (Joomla), MochaUI, Silverlight (silverZoom)

Bonus- Desktop Style Container

Desktop style app OtherInbox built with SproutCore

A desktop style container isn’t actually a control, but frequently required when developing enterprise software and productivity web applications. Many of the frameworks that offer this feature include built in windows management, split panels, and fluid layout.

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, YUI, JQuery, MochaUI, Backbase, SproutCore, Silverlight

Send me any corrections and/or additions, and I will upload an updated control/framework matrix.

Thanks to Joonas Lehtinen of IT Mill, Ryan Johnson of LivePipe, and Peter Svensson who is a Dojo expert, and Darren James, co-author of Ajax in Action.

Update* Cody Lindley at jQuery provided a comprehensive list with links to code for jQuery support for all 30 controls.