How does Web Design differ for SAAS over traditional websites?

Question

Looking for guidance on how UI design differs for multitenant applications. Pointers to whitepapers and blog entries greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

I can't see why the (graphical) design should be any different. end user shouldn't be able to determine who is hosting the application.

The software design of course has to take care to separate the different instances/clients and to ensure various demands of clients don't affect each other in a negative way.

Also maintenance should be considered. If your app is only used by one client, it is often possible to agree on some downtime for updates, reconfiguration and the like. With many clients this will become different. So you should probably plan for your application to reread configuration without restart. You also should plan for a way to upgrade your application without downtime.

Answer 2

Depends on what type of service you're offering really, doesn't it.

If you're allowing your app to be skinned by various clients (say, like Outlook Webmail) then you need to consider the situation appropriately.

But really, SAAS means nothing here. You just design your ... design, as it should be, and as it needs to be. Simple.