Is it a good idea to build a web user interface using Flash?

Question

the company I work for has a web-based user interface which paying clients log in to to get access to data and control mechanisms.

We're planning to launch a completely new version of this interface, and one option we're considering is whether to build it in Flash.

The argument for using Flash is that it would enable us to build a really innovative, engaging interface.

My worries about this are:

1. None of the developers currently know anything much about Flash.
2. It seems to me like it will make maintaining the system harder (the current incarnation is built using PHP / HTML / JavaScript / AJAX).
3. I don't know enough about Flash to be able to estimate what impact it will have on initial development or on maintenance.
4. I fear it will worsen the user experience -- slow download times, for one thing, and it won't work at all for people who don't have Flash installed.
5. It feels like overkill. We want to show some pretty graphs, which I think we should build using something like Fusion Charts, but otherwise it will just be fairly straightforwad text and graphics. It feels like we'd be in danger of adding pizzazz just for the sake of it, because we can.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? I'm not asking about public web sites, but is Flash a good idea for an online user interface?

Incidentally, I know very little about Flash, so I apologise if I've made any horrifically wrong assumptions here!

Answer 1

You will be doing yourself a huge disservice by creating an administrative tool purely in flash. As you said, it will be complete overkill. You will be pulling your hair out in no time (especially if your developers know nothing about flash) and only for the sake of making it look "flashy." Also, if your devs aren't skilled in flash, you run the risk of making a cheesy UI, making a buggy UI, and going waaay overbudget in learning how to use the timelines and such. Flash is great in small doses and possibly for large-budget websites with many viewers (see nike), but if you're just building an admin tool, stick with PHP/.NET/whatever and good ol' HTML/CSS.

Answer 2

In my experience, it's okay to use Flash within a web site, such as to display pretty-looking Fusion Charts (like you said), but entire sites written in Flash tend to be terrible. For more:

What is so evil about a Flash based website? What are the (technical) pros and cons of Flash vs AJAX/JS?

Also, seconding other answers posted so far (@Matt, @James, @Zoidberg, and @Jason in particular).

Answer 3

Please don't use flash for this.

If you're looking to make an "innovative, engaging interface", the right tools for this are HTML, CSS, and jQuery. You can make some very nice, very usable interfaces that are easily maintainable and accessible.

Here are some usability ideas to consider:

• If you need some eye candy, try jQuery UI. You can get draggable windows, animated transitions, and other neat effects. A little bit of this goes a long way.
• Use autocomplete boxes to speed up selecting from large sets of data
• Generate complex charts and graphs server-side, and load them with ajax. Precompute them if possible to improve response time.

Answer 4

I am sure you would have read this http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000069.html

Why do you want to rewrite the entire code again and that too when the programmers are new to that technology. As far as i think technology is just the medium, how you use it is more important.And 'how you use it', you will only come to know when you are very well experienced with it.

As far as using Charts, you can easily use FusionCharts with or without knowing Flash.I have just used them in one of our products.Its pretty straight forward to use with xml (and i donot know Flash)