Application form size

  • Thread starter Thread starter John
  • Start date Start date
J

John

Hi

I am just wondering what should be the size of forms these days for a
winform app to cover general user population, 800x600 or larger?

Thanks

Regards
 
John said:
I am just wondering what should be the size of forms these days for a
winform app to cover general user population, 800x600 or larger?
Click to expand...

The application should work with any screen resolution. You can use
docking, anchoring, and dynamic adaption of controls' sizes and visibility
to adjust the form to the current screen resolution or window size.
 
Herfried,

That is true, however if you use 480 wide than you can put less textboxes on
a screen then when that is 1024, you can dock and anchor what you want, it
does not look at all.

Cor
 
Cor Ligthert said:
That is true, however if you use 480 wide than you can put less textboxes
on a screen then when that is 1024, you can dock and anchor what you want,
it does not look at all.
Click to expand...

That's why I wrote "and dynamic adaption of controls' sizes and visibility":
 
Hi

I am just wondering what should be the size of forms these days for a
winform app to cover general user population, 800x600 or larger?

Thanks

Regards
Click to expand...

It depends what you want/need to put on the form.
Will you be making the form sizable? If not why not?


The most common screen size is currently 1024x768, but that doesn't
mean that users will not have a smaller size. Nor does it mean that
you have the whole screen to use for your controls.

What do you want to happen if a user has a resolution smaller than
whatever size you decide your form should be? Should they be able to
use the program/form? Will they be able to use it?
Consider also, where on the screen the form appears. If centered and
larger than the screen, the user may not be able to see crucial parts.
What about side bars (e.g. Google desktop) or the Vista Gadget bar?
If these are always on top , you will have a different amount of
screen real estate available to you.
What about the Start bar? Users can change the height of this and
even move it to the side. This can greatly change the area available
to display a form in.
Research has also shown that as users have larger screens they are
also less likely to maximize those screens. Does this affect how you
design your app/forms?
Also wide screen monitors are becoming more popular these days. What
about them?
I also know people who use the monitors in a portrait (rather than
landscape) position. Their screen size is 768x1024 (or larger). What
about them?


A few general rules:

Think usability! (Just because you can fit more on a bigger screen,
doesn't mean you should!)
If a form can be resized, it should be possible to do so.
It should be possible to make a form as small as possible and still be
usable.
Think usability! (Including assistive technologies like screen
readers)


Yes, this is a huge topic.
You can optimize for 1024x768, but make sure that it is usable at
smaller sizes.
 
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