Will WPF be the savior for our lack luster UI’s?

Question

I was reading Pro WPF in C# 2008 yesterday (in anonymous bookstore) and in chapter 2 they mention that XAML allows for the graphic design and the programmer to be completely independent. It got me wondering if most companies are moving toward having dedicated design specialists for implementing there UI’s? I know at our company we have had less than encouraging comments about our displays/UI's and we have even considered bringing in consultants. All of our UI development is done by the developer.

Should we have/hire a graphic design specialist, or hire a consultant to look at our work, or will WPF be the savior for our lack luster UI’s?

Answer 1

WPF itself won't automatically make your applications look better. In fact, I think most attempts at a first WPF app usually look worse than if the dev had just stuck to Windows Forms. What WPF does is allow the creative/design type a lot of freedom in designing the application outside of the normal code-focused dev workflow. If your current UIs scream "I was made by a developer" then I'd say you need a designer regardless of whether you use WPF or not.

Answer 2

WPF is not going to save you. Even in plain html/css it is possible to create much better user interfaces than are now commonly seen. The problem is lack of attention to UI design (laziness), not lack of tools. Having someone around who tells everyone that they can do a much better job (and show them how) might provide better results

Answer 3

We've started using WPF, but we have no UI designers - and it shows. Some of our user interfaces here (99% in Windows Forms, rough guesstimate) could be filed under "crime against humanity." I've done something relatively pleasing to the eyes with my first WPF application, but it still could use some TLC. I must say that even though WPF drove me nuts at first, now I hope I won't have to go back to Windows Forms for future projects.

WPF offers the potential, but it's very likely that the majority of companies who don't use UI designers now won't start just because they're using WPF. Hell, most don't have dedicated test teams, so don't even dare mentioning the idea of dedicated UI designers. The mentality here is: "As long as it works, it doesn't matter how it looks." It drives me mad every time.

Stephan mentioned laziness. That's not un-true (we have people who display actual cryptic database field names on screen rather than user-friendly names, for instance), but as Mario pointed out, UI skills are a different beast from programming skills. We have some excellent programmers who should never be allowed to go near the interface.

Answer 4

While interface design in WPF can be independent from programming, it is not purely graphic design work. A person can work on interface independently, but this person must have reasonable knowledge of software development, .NET and WPF internals.

Probably the most common approach is for designer to create templates and guidelines for developers, and then review resulting interfaces.