User:Andrew/LayoutPatterns

Purpose

Layout patterns provide an aid to designing applications that maintain both visual and functional consistencies that are appropriate for the functionality and content of the application.

Guidance

The complete layout for your application may be constructed by selecting an appropriate Command Pattern and Navigation Pattern.

• Command Patterns are determined by the command structure chosen for the application (simple, complex or very complex).
• Navigation Patterns are determined by the structure of the application content (flat, 2-deep, 3-deep, n-deep).

See the layout pattern example that shows how to select the layout for photo gallery application.

Plasmoid Layouts

Plasmoids like panel popups and desktop widgets should meet the following criteria:

• Plasmoids use only a simple command structure.
• Plasmoids must have a flat or 2 deep content structure.
• If the above two criteria cannot be satisfied, consider designing a traditional desktop application instead of a plasmoid.

Methodology

Applications Survey

An extensive survey of a broad range of desktop applications was conducted. The survey activity included identifying the type and layout characteristics of each application. The types of applications surveyed were:

Video player, Audio/Music player, Image browser, Image editor, Web browser, File browser, Settings, Text editor, IDE, Document editor, Document viewer, Games, Email, Address book, Chat client, Calendar, Video conference, Audio/Video editing, Terminal, Calculator, Clock, System Monitor, Archiver, Mapping/Directions, Software installer/remover, Dictionary

Industry Guidelines Review

Several published guidelines were reviewed to identify common industry layout guidance and to help validate some of the guidance provided in these guidelines. The industry layout guidelines surveyed include:

• GNOME HIG
• Windows Design Guidelines
• Google Design Guidelines
• Android Design Guidelines
• OS X HIG
• iOS HIG