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Interfaces 101

Interfaces are crucial for user interaction in Appian applications, allowing for dynamic and reusable components across various application pages. Effective user interface design focuses on clarity, appropriate information display, and user navigation to enhance productivity. The document also outlines the structure and components of interfaces, including layouts and patterns, to facilitate the creation of intuitive applications.

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5 views14 pages

Interfaces 101

Interfaces are crucial for user interaction in Appian applications, allowing for dynamic and reusable components across various application pages. Effective user interface design focuses on clarity, appropriate information display, and user navigation to enhance productivity. The document also outlines the structure and components of interfaces, including layouts and patterns, to facilitate the creation of intuitive applications.

Uploaded by

prasad.bikram85
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Interfaces are an essential component of every Appian application.

End users interact with


applications through interfaces. Typical pages in applications that use interfaces include record lists or
landing pages, reporting interfaces, summary view pages, tasks, and forms.
Pause
Appian generates common interfaces for you when you generate actions in record types (to learn
more, enroll in the course, Design Appian Records Part 1: Accessing Your Data). You can use these
interfaces as starting points to fine tune. In this course, however, you'll learn how to build an interface
from scratch to better understand how interfaces work.
Reusing Interfaces

Interfaces can be reused throughout applications for consistent style and efficiency, including within
other interfaces. Reusing interfaces helps you create a dynamic application—meaning that changes in
one interface are reflected across all uses of that interface. It also helps you maintain the internal
design standards of your organization.
Below, the Acme Automobile vehicle summary is an example of reusing interfaces. The Vehicle
Information section is actually an interface that is reused across multiple interfaces in the application.
Think of interfaces like any other expression rule; to call an interface, use the rule! prefix.
Trusted users can add frequently used interfaces to the design library. An organizational best practice
might be to create an application in which to save all standard interface templates, which are then
easy to find and access from the Design Library.

The vehicle summary view interface, which is made up of other interfaces.


User Interface Design
Building effective business applications requires more than just satisfying the functional requirements.
Applications must also enable users to complete their work efficiently to maximize productivity.
Making interfaces as intuitive as possible reduces training costs and ramp-up time. And, of course,
users expect beautiful interfaces that look rich and modern.

Three key concepts of quality user experience design are:


1
1 Present information clearly. Powerful functionality and rich data are of limited value if users
cannot understand the information. Presenting application content with clarity is a crucial part of user
experience design.
2
2 Show the right amount of information. Information can be clear but unnecessary. Great design
recognizes that not all information is necessary all of the time. You should show the right amount of
information while balancing components on the screen.
3
3 Facilitate user orientation and navigation. During the design stage, take the time to arrange the
content and controls in an interface so that users can effortlessly navigate it and complete their tasks.
For a comprehensive understanding of interface design best practices, visit the Appian SAIL
Design System(opens in a new tab) site.

Check Your Knowledge


Where might you use interfaces in your applications? Select all that apply.
 Forms
 Record Lists
 Queries
 Reports

An interface can only be used in one application. True or false?


True
False
Which of the following are principles of user interface design? Select all that apply.
 Present information clearly
 Show the right amount of information
 Facilitate user orientation and navigation
 Include as much information as possible

Recap
Business users interact with applications through interfaces, and you can use interfaces across your
applications, such as in landing pages, reporting interfaces, and tasks. You should also apply
principles of user interface design when designing your interfaces.

Lesson 3 - Tour an Interface Object


Design Mode: Design Mode allows you to drag and drop content and configure properties to build
interfaces quickly. Click on the numbers in the image below to tour the key work areas of the interface
object in Design Mode: live view, the palette, and the configuration panel.

Templates: When you first open a new interface, you can choose to apply a template. Templates
provide structure to your interface, auto-populating crucial components. When you use a template,
various options are provided in four categories: Forms, Pages, and Examples. Click on a number to
learn about the template type

Layouts:
Layouts are used to organize components and can be found in the palette. Each interface consists of
one or more layouts.

Top-Level Layouts

L3_NewInterfaceHighlight 23.1.jpg
If you choose not to use a template when you create a new interface, you can use top-level layouts to
start your design. Top-level layouts cannot be nested within other layouts.

Form Layout:
Similar to form templates, form templates contain cancel and submit buttons. This layout is ideal for
start and task forms.

Card and Billboard Header Layouts:


These layouts display an arrangement of layouts and components beneath a billboard or card header.
They are ideal for landing pages or reports.

Other Layouts:
Use additional layout options to further organize your interface within templates and top-level layouts.

Section Layout:
Section layouts visually group related parts of interfaces. You can specify an optional heading to
describe each section. Sections can also be configured to allow users to collapse and expand
content. There are several section layouts used in this interface pictured here: Request Details,
Vehicle Information, and Comments.

Box Layout:
The box layout is another way to visually group related components. Each box consists of a title bar
and a border. A box can draw further attention to specific details. Use box layouts sparingly as they
make pages look more cluttered.

Card Layout:
Card layouts visually group related content. Unlike box layouts, card layouts don’t have a separate
title bar. Cards also allow you to choose a background color to help highlight their contents. This top
area highlighted in the image below is a card layout. It calls attention to key information including the
vehicle’s condition, most recent maintenance, and upcoming maintenance.
Column and Side by Side Layouts:
The columns layout and side by side layout provide two complementary techniques for arranging
components across the width of your pages. The columns layout is used for the primary organization
of a page or section, like in the image below. Vehicle details are in one column, and requestor details
are in another. The side by side layout is used for fine-grained control over the presentation of
small groups of related components. Within the Vehicle Details section, the vehicle's make, model,
year, and color are in a side by side layout.

Components
Once you have built the structure of your interface using layouts, you are ready to add components.
Components are the fundamental building blocks of interfaces. They are used to display or
manipulate data. After adding components, configure them using the Component Configuration pane.

Patterns:
From the palette, you also have the choice to add patterns to your interface. Patterns provide a
combination of components and dynamic expressions to achieve common user-interface designs.
Side by side is the best layout when you need to display several small details grouped together.

Use the configuration pane to configure components and rule inputs and view local variables.
To capture information that doesn’t have a user input field in your interface, but should still be
written to the database, you’ll want to use the a!save() function. For example, you might use a!
save() if you want to save today’s date to a “Submitted On” field in the database, even though there
is no “Submitted On” field in your interface. Configure a!save() using the Save Value To field on the
Submit button.

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