According to O’Reilly Media’s Inside RIA, ProtoShare is among the ranks of Google Maps, Mint, Quicken Online/a>, Mini Cars, and others as the one of the Top 50 Most Usable RIAs (Rich Internet Applications). We are quite proud of our selection, especially considering that ProtoShare was not designed in Flash, Flex, or Silverlight, but rather uses HTML, Javascript, and CSS to create interactive prototypes with real-time collaboration.
Theresa Neil and Bill Scott, authors of the book, Designing Web Interfaces: Principles and Patterns for Rich Interactions, made the selections. Each RIA had to pass two sets of criteria.
First, does it abide by Jakob Nielsen’s 10 Usability Principles?
- Visibility of system status
- Match between system and the real world
- User control and freedom
- Consistency and standards
- Error prevention
- Recognition rather than recall
- Flexibility and efficiency of use
- Aesthetic and minimalist design
- Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
- Help and documentation
Second, was it developed with six basic principles guiding RIA development?
- Make It Direct
- Keep It Lightweight
- Stay on the Page
- Provide an Invitation
- Use Transitions
- React Immediately
With your feedback and suggestions, we continue to keep improving the interface, functionality, usability, and value of of ProtoShare. Stay tuned for some exciting new features coming this fall.