Last week I experienced an odd synchronicity of discussions and news items on the issue of browser plugins consuming too much real estate in the browser window.
The burgeoning browser plugin space is likely to get messier before it gets better. There are a number of design issues to be tackled by us, the developers of plugins, but this screen real estate issue is obviously the one that hits users first and foremost.
I was happy that in these discussions I could demonstrate that the TrustPlus Reputation Tools plugin consumes virtually no screen real estate. We designed the UI from the get-go to be as non-intrusive as possible, and to be extremely respectful of the underlying site content. The folks I was talking with were impressed with our thoughtful design. While that was encouraging for us, it underlined the point that users, apparently, have expectations that plugins are profligate in their use of their precious screen real estate.
All of us designing plugins should try to be as thoughtful as possible in this regard, lest we inadvertently create a culture 0f avoidance
Shawn
Comments