TurboWidgets are essentially a library of very useful user interface and interaction widgets that are well designed and easy to implement. In most cases it’s always better to design custom UI elements for each client or application. However, recently many clients who are more interested in being “first to market” with a product are fine with customizable “stock” elements for alpha launch. That’s where products like TurboWidgets fit well into the design process. All of their AJAX widgets are highly customizable as their style is all CSS based. A very nice product.
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Feedblendr's RSS Aggregator
– February 28, 2006 - No comments - Posted in Design Patterns, RSS Patterns. -
Combining RSS feed has always been problematic for a non-tech oriented blogger. Feedblendr has created an intuitive user interface for their web application that anyone can use to combine as many feeds as they like. The user interface is superb with oversized fonts and form input fields, overlapping header-to-content-area graphic and an effective use of color. An outstanding user interface and interaction experience.
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Logahead – AJAX Weblog
– February 27, 2006 - No comments - Posted in Blog Patterns, Design Patterns. -
Finally, someone has produced a blog that uses many of the current popular AJAX widgets along with web 2.0 social features. The seventeen year old developer has produced a great user experience with an inline admin, tagging, and rss support. Adding content is enhanced by inline editing, deleting and creating of all of the page content. The themes are controlled with one click. and since they are CSS based they are easy to develop and configure.
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Wufoo AJAX & Flash Form Builder
– February 26, 2006 - No comments - Posted in Design Patterns, Form Design. -
Wufoo uses flash objects and the Prototype JavaScript framework to create a very fluid user experience for building web forms of any kind. Currently, Wufoo is not released to the public, however, from the look of the demo, it will be a very easy to use, and a valuable tool to web designers and developers. The process of creating a form is very intuitive and and smooth. In short, I didn’t need to read any instructions to create my first form. The user interface is a nice mix of color, readability and non-liner shapes which creates an excellent skin to the smooth user interaction.
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AJAX Tabs
– February 25, 2006 - No comments - Posted in Design Patterns, Navigation. -
I’ve been using CSS tabs for many years now and have always wished they had a bit more functionality. AJAX Tabs uses the time tested Sliding Doors method for CSS tabs and implements a very useful AJAX layer. This functionality could add some very dynamic user interaction. Among a few of the features offered are, the ability to specify default open tabs, AJAX preloading, and tab based javascript events. Think of the possibilities.
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BloxPress – AJAX Wordpress Theme
– February 25, 2006 - No comments - Posted in Blog Patterns, Design Patterns. -
BloxPress has created the first completely modular AJAX theme for a popular blog software. Their vision was to create a MyYahoo or NetVibes.com like interface with a blog backend. The user experience is superb with drag and drop modules, RSS, Flickr, etc… You can also add or delete as many modules as you like by simply clicking the Add / Remove Content link under the logo. Reseting to the original default settings is facilitated easily by clicking one link. Hopefully, at some point this type of web 2.0 / AJAX theme will be available for all of the major blogs API’s.
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Spongecell's AJAX Calendar
– February 23, 2006 - No comments - Posted in Calendars, Design Patterns. -
The user experience for most online calendaring systems is slow, non-ituitive, and frustrating. The thing that usually turns me off first about online calendaring is the constant page reloading. Reloading the calendar to add, delete, and edit entries is time consuming and cumbersome. Spongecell, solves all of these issues with the intelligent use AJAX features and widgets. For me the highlights include drag and drop event times into any date, instant event editing via AJAX popovers, and a fast send to friend feature. A great user experience!
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Ajaxian's Star Rating System
– February 22, 2006 - No comments - Posted in Design Patterns, Ratings. -
In a day when many users have dozens if not hundreds of feeds, ratings and reputations systems are becoming increasingly important in the web 2.0 space. Ajaxian has implemented a nice wordpress hack of the votio rating system.The AJAX user generated ratings system is intuitive and fun to use. A good user experience with instant results.
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digg spy Live Page
– February 20, 2006 - No comments - Posted in Design Patterns, Live Pages. -
The digg spy page is essentially a real-time view of digg. As users digg stories they instantly appear on the spy page without reloading the page itself. These asynchronous content loads make using the digg spy page a bit like watching a movie. The other nice UI element on the spy page is the asynchronous tab views which let you, spy on all stories, spy on queued stories and spy on front page stories only.
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onesens Messaging
– February 20, 2006 - No comments - Posted in Design Patterns, Messaging. -
Great page presentation with a nice use of dark tones, highlight colors and gradients. The thing I like best about onsens is their user experience. Sending a message is intuitive and visually appealing. Your message text is added through an live edit on the first screen. Clicking “next” gives you a nice slide and fade into the next screen. Here you can asynchronously add an image, change background colors, and drag the text around in you new message. Finally, all you have to do is click the large send button. A great user experience.
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Podbop Entrance Page
– February 20, 2006 - No comments - Posted in Design Patterns, Search, Start Pages. -
Excellent use of color, oversized text, and a well designed map navigator are highlights of the Podbop start page. The interior uses the same high contrast and highly readable layout. The dark brown and lime green work well together with the white font. The site has a great user experience with inline previews of the band’s mp3’s categorized by date and location.
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Wayfaring's Login System
– February 19, 2006 - No comments - Posted in Design Patterns, Login Forms. -
Taking the time to go to another page to login to a website has always annoyed me. Inline login boxes are fine, however they do take up real-estate. One of the most exciting new features I’ve seen in AJAX are new login conventions. Wayfaring uses a login system that may have been inspired by Jalenack’s original periodic table of the elements, which was first shown at the initial AJAX summit held in San Francisco California. This technique has been used many times since however, I think this is a particularly effective application of the AJAX popover. Their front page design is a little bloggeresque but I like the login box. It is a very nice variation on this type of theme. Finally, I must say, the green is stunning.
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Netvibes Start Page
– February 18, 2006 - No comments - Posted in Design Patterns, Start Pages. -
At first glance Netvibes looks like many other web 2.0 sites, however, it’s interaction design is superb. Nearly all of Netvibes user interaction is controlled by an AJAX presentation layer. Smart features include inline title editing, a hide and show add content box, and the content boxes control elements located in the header of each box. Also of mention is the smooth performance of the drag and drop function. In my opinion the strength of the Netvibes design is the attention to minimalism and the close attention to user interaction.
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odeo's Log in widget
– February 14, 2006 - No comments - Posted in Design Patterns, Login Forms. -
While I’m not in love with the odeo redesign I do still appreciate their log in box. The pop-over works well and quickly and it’s a nice surprise on the page.