Chromium Blog
News and developments from the open source browser project
Creating a Great User Interface For Your Web App
venerdì 29 ottobre 2010
Today we are kicking off a series of blog posts that provide tips and tricks on how to create better web apps as well as insights behind the technology of the Chrome Web Store - Ed
.
Looking at building a web app for the
Chrome Web Store
? The browser landscape has changed a lot recently and user expectations about the quality and polish level of apps are extremely high thanks in part to the success of highly polished mobile apps. Can you meet these high expectations with a webapp?
Fortunately, you now have a lot more power and flexibility with the user interface thanks to the power of
HTML5, CSS3, and other new web technologies
. It’s now possible to make a web app that is every bit as slick and polished as the best desktop or phone app, while still maintaining the flexibility and portability of the web. For example, using CSS3 transitions and animations, you can make actions in your app feel much more interactive. You can use CSS3’s support for gradients, reflections and rounded corners to create scalable interfaces that look as if they were built using hand-crafted images. And with the rise of
GPU-accelerated graphics
, you’re now able to create compelling 3D experiences.
However, creating great user experiences is about more than sizzle and polish. Another important factor is focus. Ideally, an app should accomplish a single task well with a minimal amount of distractions. Be judicious with your use of links and ads that could take users away from the task at hand. When the user launches your app, they’re trying to accomplish something specific that your app enables; help them get started right away by minimizing the steps that they need to take, especially when they’re first trying your app. If the first thing a user sees is a registration screen, many will bounce off (once you need the users to sign in, you can use
OpenID and Google Accounts
to simplify the process). By installing your app they’ve indicated something stronger than just clicking a link - they want to use your app to accomplish something specific. Keep the distractions to a minimum and keep your app focused on the job at hand and your users will be happier.
UI responsiveness in your app is also crucial. For example, let’s say you’ve built a photo stitching app that glues together photos into one seamless larger photo. This may require a lot of CPU horsepower or even that you do the heavy lifting on the server. Maybe the whole operation takes two minutes to complete. However, you can still keep your interactive performance high while the operation proceeds asynchronously. You could ship the CPU work off of the main user interface thread using an
HTML5 Worker
or you could offload it to a server with an XHR. That alone isn’t enough though. You need to give the user feedback while this is happening, ideally something cool and visual and not just a progress bar. Meanwhile, the user should be able to do other things. If that’s not possible, then cancelling needs to be easy and responsive. Interactive performance is usually something that needs to be designed into your app up front rather than added later as an afterthought, so plan ahead.
In short, you need to think both like app developer as well as a web developer. Putting a little extra thought into focus, performance, feedback and polish can make the difference between “meh” and “whee!”.
Posted by Erik Kay, Software Engineer
Etichette
$200K
1
10th birthday
4
abusive ads
1
abusive notifications
2
accessibility
3
ad blockers
1
ad blocking
2
advanced capabilities
1
android
2
anti abuse
1
anti-deception
1
background periodic sync
1
badging
1
benchmarks
1
beta
83
better ads standards
1
billing
1
birthday
4
blink
2
browser
2
browser interoperability
1
bundles
1
capabilities
6
capable web
1
cds
1
cds18
2
cds2018
1
chrome
35
chrome 81
1
chrome 83
2
chrome 84
2
chrome ads
1
chrome apps
5
Chrome dev
1
chrome dev summit
1
chrome dev summit 2018
1
chrome dev summit 2019
1
chrome developer
1
Chrome Developer Center
1
chrome developer summit
1
chrome devtools
1
Chrome extension
1
chrome extensions
3
Chrome Frame
1
Chrome lite
1
Chrome on Android
2
chrome on ios
1
Chrome on Mac
1
Chrome OS
1
chrome privacy
4
chrome releases
1
chrome security
10
chrome web store
32
chromedevtools
1
chromeframe
3
chromeos
4
chromeos.dev
1
chromium
9
cloud print
1
coalition
1
coalition for better ads
1
contact picker
1
content indexing
1
cookies
1
core web vitals
2
csrf
1
css
1
cumulative layout shift
1
custom tabs
1
dart
8
dashboard
1
Data Saver
3
Data saver desktop extension
1
day 2
1
deceptive installation
1
declarative net request api
1
design
2
developer dashboard
1
Developer Program Policy
2
developer website
1
devtools
13
digital event
1
discoverability
1
DNS-over-HTTPS
4
DoH
4
emoji
1
emscriptem
1
enterprise
1
extensions
27
Fast badging
1
faster web
1
features
1
feedback
2
field data
1
first input delay
1
Follow
1
fonts
1
form controls
1
frameworks
1
fugu
2
fund
1
funding
1
gdd
1
google earth
1
google event
1
google io 2019
1
google web developer
1
googlechrome
12
harmful ads
1
html5
11
HTTP/3
1
HTTPS
4
iframes
1
images
1
incognito
1
insecure forms
1
intent to explain
1
ios
1
ios Chrome
1
issue tracker
3
jank
1
javascript
5
lab data
1
labelling
1
largest contentful paint
1
launch
1
lazy-loading
1
lighthouse
2
linux
2
Lite Mode
2
Lite pages
1
loading interventions
1
loading optimizations
1
lock icon
1
long-tail
1
mac
1
manifest v3
2
metrics
2
microsoft edge
1
mixed forms
1
mobile
2
na
1
native client
8
native file system
1
New Features
5
notifications
1
octane
1
open web
4
origin trials
2
pagespeed insights
1
pagespeedinsights
1
passwords
1
payment handler
1
payment request
1
payments
2
performance
20
performance tools
1
permission UI
1
permissions
1
play store
1
portals
3
prefetching
1
privacy
2
privacy sandbox
4
private prefetch proxy
1
profile guided optimization
1
progressive web apps
2
Project Strobe
1
protection
1
pwa
1
QUIC
1
quieter permissions
1
releases
3
removals
1
rlz
1
root program
1
safe browsing
2
Secure DNS
2
security
36
site isolation
1
slow loading
1
sms receiver
1
spam policy
1
spdy
2
spectre
1
speed
4
ssl
2
store listing
1
strobe
2
subscription pages
1
suspicious site reporter extension
1
TCP
1
the fast and the curious
23
TLS
1
tools
1
tracing
1
transparency
1
trusted web activities
1
twa
2
user agent string
1
user data policy
1
v8
6
video
2
wasm
1
web
1
web apps
1
web assembly
2
web developers
1
web intents
1
web packaging
1
web payments
1
web platform
1
web request api
1
web vitals
1
web.dev
1
web.dev live
1
webapi
1
webassembly
1
webaudio
3
webgl
7
webkit
5
WebM
1
webmaster
1
webp
5
webrtc
6
websockets
5
webtiming
1
writable-files
1
yerba beuna center for the arts
1
Archive
2024
dic
ago
giu
mag
apr
mar
feb
2023
nov
ott
set
ago
giu
mag
apr
feb
2022
dic
set
ago
giu
mag
apr
mar
feb
gen
2021
dic
nov
ott
set
ago
lug
giu
mag
apr
mar
feb
gen
2020
dic
nov
ott
set
ago
lug
giu
mag
apr
mar
feb
gen
2019
dic
nov
ott
set
ago
lug
giu
mag
apr
mar
feb
gen
2018
dic
nov
ott
set
ago
lug
giu
mag
apr
mar
feb
gen
2017
dic
nov
ott
set
ago
lug
giu
mag
apr
mar
feb
gen
2016
dic
nov
ott
set
ago
giu
mag
apr
mar
feb
gen
2015
dic
nov
ott
set
ago
lug
giu
mag
apr
mar
feb
gen
2014
dic
nov
ott
set
ago
lug
giu
mag
apr
mar
feb
gen
2013
dic
nov
ott
set
ago
lug
giu
mag
apr
mar
feb
gen
2012
dic
nov
ott
set
ago
lug
giu
mag
apr
mar
feb
gen
2011
dic
nov
ott
set
ago
lug
giu
mag
apr
mar
feb
gen
2010
dic
nov
ott
set
ago
lug
giu
mag
apr
mar
feb
gen
2009
dic
nov
set
ago
lug
giu
mag
apr
mar
feb
gen
2008
dic
nov
ott
set
Feed
Follow @ChromiumDev
Give us feedback in our
Product Forums
.
