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30
Nov

Keeping it simple : Design and UI (2/5)

by Tal Zubalsky on 9:52 pm 4 Comments

This is the 2nd of 5 short posts about Octabox’s approach to simplicity.

One of our main guidelines during development is that the user’s information comes first. Nothing should stand in the user’s way to his information: not banners or alerts, not screen-blockers or any other graphical distractions.

We apply this principle by designing the UI to be as focused, simple and clear as we possibly can.

Octabox Dashboard
(click the image to view full size)

The main work-area is centered and white – hovering above the darker background, making it feel closer to the user. The navigation is placed on the top and the sides, not taking the eye’s focus from the main area – but still – remaining noticeable, quickly and easily accessible.

We try very hard to stay true to our principles while dealing with issues like:

  • Different screen resolutions (yes, some still have those 17″ CRT monitors running with 1024×768 …)
  • Fluid UI (yes, some work with that history bar docked to the left)
  • Cross-browser support (unfortunately, some still use Internet Explorer 6)

We don’t think minimalistic design takes the place of an aesthetic, modern design and the feedback we got so far on the UI has been confirming our believes.

We use less detail, graphic elements and visual load on the user’s eye to make the user feel the application revolves around him and his info, making it easier on the user to consume his relevant data easily and in a focused, productive way.

In my next post in this series, I will cover our simple approach to structure and logic.

Categories: Graphical Design, Web Development — Tags: , , —
30
Nov

Keeping it simple (1/5)

by Tal Zubalsky on 9:52 pm 0 Comments

No one wants complications. It’s as simple as that.

I’m Tal, one of Octabox’s creators, and Octabox’s designer and user experience specialist. I have learned animation and design and have been working in the field for 5 years specializing in web, UI and interaction design, as well as animation and post production for television and music videos.

In the following short posts I will elaborate a bit about our approach to simplicity in the various aspects of the development process:

  • Simple design and UI
  • Simple approach to structure and logic (Very soon)
  • Simple interactions and usability (soon)
  • Simple approach to sharing (soon)

We live by these principles day in and day out, trying our best to incorporate them into our products. We always keep them on the back of our minds in every step we take because we feel simplicity and focus are the key to a successful, useful service, to you – our users.

Categories: Graphical Design, Web Development — Tags: —
24
Nov

Yep, we’re in (private) Beta!

by Eran Galperin on 4:11 pm 0 Comments

So without much fanfare, Octabox web platform has launched into the world on October 10th. This phase is a closed one as we want to make sure the quality is way up there before we unleash the platform on the general public.

User feedback has been excellent thus far - people have taken a liking to the UI and overall feel. There are definitely some things to improve and more functionality to be added before it is ready for a public unveiling - but we are very excited and feel to be on the right direction.

Hand in hand with the platform launch, we have relaunched our marketing site with a new look (we wrote a post on the logo selection process a couple of months ago). The site contents are still somewhat raw, but if google analytics statistics are to be trusted the improvement over the previous site is major.

From now on we’ll be updating our blog on a regular basis, discussing upcoming features and sharing personal experiences from the startup process. We hope to hear from you as well!

Categories: Business —