Hi, Aaron.
I think many designers use 800x600 as a basis for designing forms, but would
it be so bad to use 1024x768?
Yes. There's 64% more screen real estate in 1024x768 than there is in
800x600, but developers will try to cram in more than twice as much on a form
used with higher resolution. A form with 30 text boxes for data entry at
800x600 resolution gets redesigned with 75 text boxes or more for 1024x768
resolution. It's hard to visually scan for one particular item on the screen
when there's so much "clutter."
Design the application for the intended customers. Ask them what they want.
And bear in mind that this can change "due to unforeseen circumstances" in a
heart beat.
I once worked at a site with more than 1,100 employees when the main
customer decided to move operations across the country because the new,
inexperienced employees he could hire in Florida were cheaper than the
experienced engineers and technicians in California. Within three months,
the site had less than 300 employees and the only people younger than
"bifocals age" were five of the six IT people and someone in one other
department where "most valuable" took precedence over "seniority." (I was
the last one hired, so I would have been the first to go if my senior manager
hadn't convinced the site director that I do the work of 2 1/2 employees.) I
found myself redesigning forms for 460x640 resolution for people reassigned
to jobs that included 17-inch monitors on their desks.
Are there a good amount of
people still on 800x600?
Yes. And many people are still working with Windows 2000 and older and with
pre-Office 2003 applications, even though these were superceded by more
recent versions several years ago. Until the software requires that the
hardware be upgraded, most businesses aren't going to want to foot the bill
for better, faster computers -- and the new monitors with larger screens that
accompany these new computers. It's the computer's lack of capabilities that
drive the upgrade, not the monitor's.
And if so, wouldn't they have to be used to doing a
boatload of scrolling already? There are plenty of websites that use
1024x768 as well as some apps.
As a sight-impaired computer user, I can tell you that Web sites and
applications that require excessive scrolling don't get many visits or much
use from the sight-impaired and the older generation of computer users, even
if the Web site has excellent content or the application is useful -- and
free. It's too annoying, and there are enough other Web sites and software
application vendors competing for viewers and customers for these particular
users not to spend their time and money elsewhere. And may I remind you that
it's the older generation of computer users that has more money to spend. ;-)
HTH.
Gunny
See
http://www.QBuilt.com for all your database needs.
See
http://www.Access.QBuilt.com for Microsoft Access tips.
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