出自UXGuide.net

Dashboard

Dashboard

Dashboard provides a way for users to get information and perform simple tasks quickly and easily. Appearing and disappearing with a single keystroke or mouse gesture, Dashboard presents a default or user-defined set of widgets in a format reminiscent of a heads-up display. Each widget is small, visually appealing, and clearly indicative of its purpose. For example, each of the Mac OS X Dashboard widgets shown in Figure 6-4 is an attractive, scaled-down interface to a common task.

Dashboard给用户提供了获取信息，执行简单任务的一种快速而容易的途径。一个简单的按键或者鼠标手势就能控制Dashboard的显示。Dashboard以一种怀旧的风格在屏幕上面呈现了一些默认的或者用户定制的小工具。每个工具都很小巧，直观，并且功能明确，如图6-4所示，每个小工具都是常规功能的精简版本。

Figure 6-4 Dashboard widgets
图 6-4 Dashboard小工具

You can develop a standalone widget that performs a lightweight, well-defined task or a widget whose task is actually performed by your larger, more functional application. This section summarizes both the high-level and user-interface guidelines you should follow as you design your widget. Step-by-step instructions for how to implement a Dashboard widget, including plentiful code and user interface examples, are available in Dashboard Tutorial.

您可以开发一个单独的小工具来执行一些经过良好定义的，轻量级的任务或者仅仅显示某些大型程序的部分界面。本小节总结了在设计小工具时需要注意的准则。关于怎样一步步的开发一个Dashboard小工具的具体信息，请参考Dashboard手册 ，该手册中还包含了大量的代码和用户接口范例。

Many of the user-interface design principles covered in “Human Interface Design” are also applicable to Dashboard widgets. Following these guidelines gives users an automatic familiarity with this technology.

很多 “人机接口设计”中的设计准则也同样适用于Dashboard小工具。遵守这些准则可以让用户无师自通的熟悉您的小工具。

小工具的高层设计准则

High-Level Design Guidelines for Widgets

Dashboard widgets are small and compact in part because they occupy prime screen space but also because they perform a single, well-defined task. It's especially important to avoid providing functionality that is extraneous to a widget's central task, because this dilutes a widget's usefulness. As with the design of a full-size application, taking the time to carefully define your widget's target audience (see “Involving Users in the Design Process”) will help you focus on the task your widget will perform.

Dashboard小工具都很精简，不仅是因为它们将占据最前面的屏幕，而且执行的任务都很单一，并且经过良好的定义。避免给小工具提供主要功能之外的额外功能，这一点很重要，因为这会降低小工具的作用。和设计一个全功能的应用程序一样，仔细考虑您的小工具的目标用户（见 “在设计过程中引入用户交互”一节）将帮助您集中关注于您的小工具的功能。

As you design your widget, keep these high-level guidelines in mind:

设计您的小工具时，谨记如下准则：

• A widget’s purpose should be immediately apparent to the user.

小工具的目标是立刻显示给用户。

To achieve this, be sure you understand the user's mental model of the task your widget performs (for more information on this concept, see “Reflect the User’s Mental Model”).

为了达到这一目标，需要确保您了解您的小工具所针对用户的心智模型。（关于这一概念的更多信息，请参考 “反映用户的心智模型”）。

• A widget is not the place to display aggressive company advertising or branding.

小工具不是放置公司标志或广告的地方。

Your widget is not merely an entrance to another application, even if that other application performs the processing for the widget’s task. If you take advantage of Dashboard’s prominence to display a banner ad, for example, users will be likely to stop including your widget in the Dashboard display.

即使您的小工具实际的功能是由其他程序来执行的，它也不能仅仅作为其他程序的入口。如果您利用Dashboard的突出性来显示标志广告，用户很可能会关掉您的小工具。

• A widget is not simply a miniaturized version of a standard application window.

小工具不是标准程序窗口的微型版本。

Avoid making your widget look crowded by displaying only the controls that are essential to the task.

避免让您的小工具看起来太过拥挤，而是仅显示必要的控件。

小工具的用户接口设计准则

User-Interface Design Guidelines for Widgets

When you’ve decided on the widget’s task, follow these guidelines for designing the user interface:

当您已经决定了您的小工具的功能时，遵循下面的准则来设计您的用户接口：

• Use color to enhance the visual impact of your widgets.

使用彩色来增强小工具的视觉效果。

Widgets should be visually stimulating, and good color choices can help convey the type of task the widget performs. As with application icons (described in “Icon Genres and Families”), you should consider using bright, saturated colors for fun, creative tasks and more sombre, desaturated colors for utilitarian tasks

小工具应该是吸引人的，良好的色彩运用能够帮助表达小工具的功能类型。和程序图标一样（在 “图标的种类和风格”一节中描述），娱乐类型的小工具使用明亮的深色，创作型的使用暗色调，工具型的使用浅色。

• Don’t use Aqua controls on the front of your widget. Instead, design controls that support and enhance the task-oriented appearance of the widget.

不要在小工具中使用Aqua控件，而是设计符合小工具功能主题的控件。

• Display the widget’s information at once. Dashboard appears and disappears quickly, so you don’t want to make the user wait for your content to display.

一次性的显示小工具的内容。Dashboard会很快的被切换，所以您不应让用户等待您的内容被显示。

• The default size of the widget should be small, but it should be able to expand if the task requires it.

小工具的默认大小应该比较小，但是如果功能需要的话可以展开。

Be aware that a user might want to populate the Dashboard with a very large number of widgets. If your widget is too large and seems to monopolize the screen, a user might choose not to include it.

要知道用户的Dashboard上可能有很多的小工具，如果您的小工具太大了以至于占据了大部分的屏幕，用户可能会选择不再加载它。

If appropriate you can provide a resize control, but recognize that if a user misses this control and clicks outside the widget, Dashboard is hidden.

合适的话您可以提供一个改变大小的控件，但是要知道如果用户很容易误操作点到小工具之外，从而整个Dashboard都会被隐藏。

• The default set of information your widget displays should be minimal and should not require scrolling.

小工具默认显示的信息应该很少而且不应该需要滚动。

If, however, the widget’s function is to provide a lot of information, consider making the presence of a scroll bar an option the user can select.

然而，如果小工具的功能就是提供大量的信息，可以考虑让用户选择滚动条是否出现。

• Use clearly readable fonts.

使用清晰的可读的字体。

Avoid sacrificing readability to achieve a particular appearance. Focus on building the widget’s personality into the contours and the controls you design.

避免因为特定的外观而牺牲可读性。您应该通过设计的轮廓和控件中体现小工具的特性。

• If appropriate, provide a way for the user to set a few options on the back of the widget (to do this, display an Info button in the lower right quadrant of the widget; see Dashboard Tutorial for more information).

如果合适的话，让用户可以在小工具背面来进行一些选项的设置（您可以通过在小工具的右下部分显示一个”设置“按钮；更多信息，请参考 Dashboard手册）。

Use a more subdued version of your color scheme on the back of the widget. This helps the user distinguish the widget’s back from its front.

小工具的背面应该使用低调的配色方案，这样可以帮助用户和正面区别开来。

Provide a Done button on the back of your widget that allows users to return to the front of the widget (for more information on how to provide this control, see Dashboard Tutorial).

在小工具的背面提供完成按钮来返回正面（关于怎样提供这个控件的具体信息请参考 Dashboard手册）。