Achieving a great user experience is extremely important especially in windows application development to tell if the application managed to fulfill the user’s needs. From the user’s perspective, navigating and exploring an application can be done and managed more effectively through multiple tabs. Ever since their introduction, tab controls have been a staple in desktop applications. When incorporated properly, tab controls add tremendous value to the user experience. However, if not done right, this could possibly ruin everything. Interestingly, in this session from the recently concluded DelphiCon as well as from the Desktop First UX Summit, Ray Konopka of Raize Software will share everything we need to know about the dos and don’ts of managing and controlling tabs.
Why are tabs so important and why are they popular?
Ray will explain why tab controls are so popular and why they have become a staple in almost all desktop applications. One of the major reasons is that they are visually expressive as these tab controls managed to convey what they do and their purpose concretely. These tab controls are also spatially efficient and most of all, they are extremely easy to use. The session will also highlight how tab controls effectively help us manage content. For instance, tab controls provide quick access to alternate views. Another notable strength of tab control is that it gives users the ability to isolate related content, so they don’t have to look at everything.
How to properly and efficiently manage tabs?
While tab controls are proven to be effective and undeniably work well to improve user experience, there are still notable challenges when it comes to UX designs. One of which is how users handle a large number of tabs. Managing context is also critically important when it comes to tab controls but at the same time, it becomes a challenge too. The same thing goes with styling issues and mixing metaphors.
The session also tackles the recommended optimal number of tabs a user can open to achieve the best experience. It will also teach us how to handle a large number of documents in a tabbed document model as well as the variety of methods available to properly and efficiently manage the tabs.
The video will also share some ideal design guidelines for tabs and it will also introduce us to Konopka signature controls that are available in Rad Studio including the TRzPageControl and TRzTabControl components. To learn more about Tab Controls, feel free to watch the video below.
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