Chapter 4: Information Architecture: PracticeGraphical user interface controls for handheld devices are adaptations from those employed on desktop computers. This chapter presents design guidelines for producing good icons, audicons, menus, popup menus, text entry fields, check boxes, radio buttons, push buttons, and progress indicators. User interface constructs, combinations of graphical user interface controls, are described. Dialog boxes, forms and wizards, and the clipboard model are also covered. Specific types of user interfaces, or applications, are also presented, such as web clipping, home pages, e-commerce, games, news readers, video viewers and audio players, specialized business applications, broad audience business applications, productivity applications, communication applications, and advertising were presented. Synchronization, the act of coordinating data between desktop computers and handhelds, was presented as a user interface and how it can be effectively used. Globalization is designing an application so that it can be easily adapted to different languages and cultures. Localization is the act of customization for each language or culture. Guidelines were presented to make both easier. Finally this chapter
provides specific advice for designing for each type of handheld device:
WAP for mobile phones, and design for communicators, PDAs, and pagers.
WAP’s most significant limitation is the 12-digit keypad found on
mobile telephones, while pagers lack touch screens, instead including
QWERTY keypads. PDAs have more screen real estate and touch screens, but
frequently lack QWERTY keypads. Each platform’s strengths and
limitations require different approaches to solving user interface
problems. Chapter 4: Information Architecture: Practice covers:
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