Interface

Joel Spolsky, who runs Fog Creek Software, is an expert in the design of user interfaces. A substantial portion of his book on the subject, User Interface Design for Programmers, appears on his personal website. His precepts in the field of design form the basis of this project. At the core of his designing philosophy is the dictum, "A user interface is well-designed when the program behaves exactly how the user thought it would." Accordingly, the online interface created in this project attempts to meet expectations for electronic portrayal of a portfolio and to make self-explanatory navigation on the interface.

Spolsky stresses that the design of user interfaces is, at essence, an enterprise that is best undertaken with rational, methodical thought. No special creative or artistic talents are needed to design a user interface of quality. Instead, he advises, simplicity and consideration for the potential needs and desires of the user are the ingredients for creating a useful interface. Viewing the user as a logical person who expects the interface's responses to his actions to match his expectations and act in accordance with his intuition. The interface, in Spolsky's view, is to remain unobtrustive and responsive to the user.

Although not all of the content in User Interface Design for Programmers pertained to this project, given the nature of this interface and guidance related to Microsoft products, much of his material was useful in the construction of the interface. Spolsky's emphasis on simplicity and ease of use was the driving factor behind the final version of the interface, which uses four colors--white, green, gold, and blue (for the background)--and remains uncluttered by superfluous elements.