Legacy Maemo 5 Documentation/Human Interface Guidelines/Hildonizing an Interface
Hildonizing an Interface
Developers often mistakenly design mobile device interfaces like the interfaces for desktop applications. This can compromise the usability of an application. Mobile devices' screens typically have a limited working area and cannot support all the types of widgets used by desktop computer applications.
An application for a mobile device should not be a direct port from one platform to another; the interface needs to be adapted. This document has many examples of this kind of adaptation, but this topic is explored in depth in this section.
The principles covered in this section aid development of applications that are simpler to use and a easier to learn by the user.
Divide and Conquer
In a Hildon application, dividing the content simplifies the interface while keeping full functionality. The limited screen size makes it difficult to place many controls on the screen at the same time. The solution to this problem is to split them up.
For example, an email client application usually has a split view containing, on one side, a tree view with a list of accounts and folders, and on the other side, a list of messages within the currently selected folder. This is too much for a small screen; the solution is to divide the contents. A first view should display the available accounts and allow the user to choose one. After an account is chosen, a new view should display the different folders ("Inbox", "Outbox", "Drafts", etc.). Choosing a folder displays a new view with the list of messages in it.
It is important to be reasonable in this division; things shouldn't be divided to the point that the user needs to navigate through a number of views to do simple or common tasks. For example, in the "Inbox" message list view, the user will probably wish to open a message, delete a message, or create a new one. Hence, a "Create Message" button could be added to the message list view.
Do Not Repeat Yourself
A common use-case within traditional desktop applications is that various tasks are performed via different methods. As an example, email messages in an Inbox may be edited by selecting the message and using the Edit menu from the menu bar, or by using the contextual menu triggered by right-clicking the mouse button, or by using the application's toolbar. Within Hildon, in order to save space, as well as simplify general application usability, these sorts of tasks should never be repeated. If a new email message can be created by pressing a button in an application's root view, it is unnecessary to include a "Create New Message" menu item.