SPHERE OF INFLUENCE, INC. – software studios and services

Thad Scheer

Anything but Rectangles, Part I

What is the geometric shape of a database table? What is the geometric shape of a SQL result set?

The answer to both questions is usually the same: A rectangle

Now that we’ve established that, what is the most common UI geometric for rendering data?  You guessed it…a rectangle.

Given that most data is rectangular when it emerges from a database it is no surprise that the most common user interface controls are grids and list boxes. When delivery teams need to display data they frequently turn to grid controls and list boxes without considering anything else. Is this healthy? I say no.

Experience Design 101: Deliberately choose data’s geometric shape when you have to present to a user. Don’t just reach for a grid control because it’s easy to bind to the underlying data source. That’s lazy.  Grid views give the user way too much information and offer limited ways of discerning which elements are important vs. unimportant.  Worse, they make the human do all the work of data reduction when the computer should be doing that work.

Grid views have their place in user experience but make the choice deliberately.  Spend time doing real experience design before reaching for a rectangular random-access control.

9 times out of 10 the simplest way to improve product experience with enterprise software is to replace grid controls.  Typically this involves writing a little algorithm that will convert the rectangle source data into an appropriate, often non-rectangular, geometry and then bind that using either a standard control or custom built control.  The same goes for reports.