app GUI similar to Control Panel in Vista

Question

I was playing a bit with Windows Vista (still using XP) and I liked how the standard Control Panel worked. Do you think this design is good also for normal applications?

I like the idea of showing main topics with large fonts + icons. Details within each main topic are displayed using a small font and are immediatelly accessible without the need to browse the menu. Probably everybody knows Vista, but anyway, here is the Control Panel layout.

Compared to a classic layout of icons for main topics and menu for minor topics, the Control Panel GUI seems to be good at first sight.

I haven't seen any app using this kind of GUI, so I don't know if I should rather use the common approach with icons and menu for a common application? Maybe this Control Panel GUI is suitable only for setting some options, other than working with any data?

Answer 1

I'm on the fence on this. The old Windows XP layout got cluttered quickly with programs adding their own control panel applets, while the new Windows Vista layout can be annoying to process visually at first. The search feature really helps (though not nearly as slick as Mac OS X's search) but I'm not a fan of visually laying out something that's better seen in a list into two distinct columns containing the same type of data. In list/details form it's intuitive for a user to sort the items through different attributes. I find this new presentation in the IIS 7 management applet to be particularly troublesome.

Answer 2

I think it's suitable for certain types of applications. As usual with usability related questions, "it depends". I would guess one class of application this is good for is one that you don't use very often, and/or might be used by different people at different times. It is similar in concept to a wizard in that it presents you a list of choices, and selecting a choice takes you to a new page.

Whether this sort of thing is suitable for your application, it's hard to say. The best way to answer that question is to mock up your application and do some hallway usability testing. I would guess, though, if you're thinking of using this for an application people will use a lot, this sort of interface will be annoying. If you're dealing with perpetual beginners or casual users it might be a fine way for someone to start using your program.