Developing for multiple monitors

Question

We are currently working on a new version of our main application. one thing that I really wish to work on is providing support for multiple monitors. Increasingly, our target users are adding second screens to their desktops and I think our product could leverage this extra space to improve user performance.

Our application is a financial package that supports leasing and fleet companies - a very specialised market. That being said, I am sure that many people with multiple monitors have a favourite bit of software that they think would be improved if it supported those extra screens better.

I'm looking for some opinions on those niggles that you have with current software, and how you think they could be improved to support multi-monitor setups. My aim is to then review these and decide how I can implement them and, hopefully, provide an even better environment for my users.

Your help is appreciated. Thankyou.

Answer 1

It's annoying when I drag a window to another monitor, and then if the application generates a popup dialog, or spawns another window, if that popup/dialog gets displayed back on the primary monitor.

I haven't developed for multi-monitors, but I think this can be better handled if you position child windows/dialogs centered on their parent window, rather than on the desktop center (which I'm guessing is what happens in the case I describe above).

Answer 2

Few random tips:

• If multiple windows can be open at one time, allow users to have them on separate screens. Seems obvious, but some very popular apps (e.g. Visual Studio) fail miserably at this.
• Remember the position of the last opened window, and open new windows on the same screen as before. However, sometimes users switch between multiple and single-display (e.g. docking a laptop with an external CRT), so watch cover this case as well.
• Consider how your particular users work, and how having two maximized windows simultaneously might help. Often, there is a (fairly passive) window for reference (e.g. a web browser/help) and an active window for data entry (e.g. editor/database) that users switch between.
• Do not put toolboxes/toolbars on a different window than objects they operate on (it's inconvenient to move the mouse so far).

Answer 3

Definitely keep dialogs near where you clicked to bring them up. Remember what monitor the window is on between sessions. Be aware that if they have less monitors than the last time your app was run that you need to bring the windows back to a visible area. Provide an icon or button to switch monitors. Depending on the type of app it may be useful to be able to easily tile your app's windows on a monitor or on all.

Answer 4

I'm going to have to a give a nod in dbkk's direction as they captured a couple of the major points that you need to remember.

Also, I would suggestion paying attention to how you use dual monitors and try to keep that in mind as you are developing. Generally you should try to avoid doing the things that applications you work do that annoy you. Also, don't assume that just because the user has dual monitors that they are going to want to work with your application on dual monitors.

The biggest thing that I would stress is keeping track of where the focus is in the application and making sure that any pop-ups occur within that region, one of the things that people seem to dislike the most is having a window pop-up in a different window then the one they are working on.

Answer 5

Apple's Human Interface Guidelines for the Mac have covered window management on multiple displays since 1987, when the Mac II was introduced with six slots that could all contain a graphics card. The guidelines offer a few good guidelines that you might not think of at first when implementing multiple window support. For example, if a window spans multiple displays, which display should new windows be opened on? There's an answer around Figure 14-33 in the chapter dealing with Window behavior.

Microsoft may have something similar now for Windows developers to follow; if that's the case, check it out and follow their guidelines since you don't want to behave differently than the other apps on the system (or that your users are used to) for no good reason. However, if there are no guidelines, follow Apple's as they're fairly well thought-through and were originally developed through experimentation and research.

Answer 6

Please Please Please. If you remember window positions for multiple monitors. Please detect if the second monitor is connected. I have a laptop that is sometimes docked. It is very annoying when I try to open a window and it opens off screen.

Answer 7

Some great responses, much appreciated.

Some of these I allready have covered (like remembering to check if the display is still connected). However, there is some extra food for thought.

Answer 8

One thing to keep in mind is that the user may have more than two monitors. My main system has six monitors, and I've run 4+ monitors on Linux, Windows, and Mac OS. Many applications--even multi-monitor utilities--will support 2 monitors but freak out over more than 2.

Applications work best when they know about where their windows are and relate to the locations of those windows. And as someone else mentioned, if you're going to remember where a window was, make sure that geometry still makes sense when the user comes back.

If the OS/window system dispatches an event related to the change of screen geometry, handle it if you're doing anything funky.

I think most applications that are well coded generally work these days.