Ugly user interfaces [closed]

Question

I have seen numerous ads/sites poking fun of a cluttered user interface by setting it up side by side with, say, Google and having a caption like: this is your site / this is theirs.

That’s all very funny, but actually, Google only needs a textbox and a submit button.

What about when your page is a data entry form, say an order entry form, or a new employee entry form?

I can’t think of a way to build a form that requires a lot of data entry without a clutter of textboxes, dropdownlists, checkboxes, etc.

Of course I could use put just one textbox per page, and have a 50 page data entry form or wizard, but I don’t think that would go over well with the end users.

Anyone found a way to create a data entry form that collects a lot of data but doesn’t look ugly?

Answer 1

If a good user interface on this kind of thing is very important (it often, isn't, really) then a screen that changes as the user progresses, revealing fields as needed, is often a good way to go. Some wizard screens that chunk things up might be appropriate as well.

But as I said, it generally isn't very important in business apps. The information has to presentable, and familiar (and this kind of screen is definitely familiar). Often business users want more fields on one screen so they can define the values in one shot, instead of having to go to different screens.

Also, the large amount of fields is often appreciated by power users would do entry a lot, where multiples screens just slow things down.

That being said, Google has a complicated screen. It is the advanced search link. What they are doing is keeping it simple for the simple use case. If you have an app used by hundreds of thousands of people, then a simple use case is most definitely worth its own screen. If you have a business app likely to be used by no more than a few hundred people in its lifetime, not necessarily.