Kick starting the Web App UX debate

I'm going to layout a few provocations and then followup outside this
mailing list. As I said in our teleconference, I'm new to the W3C and want
to make sure I'm tackling this problem at the right level.

I'd rather have this be a position document that gets some terms/consensus
around that problem. Sometimes just having a clear framing can work wonders.

I also like short emails. These are *meant* to provoke, but I hope
constructively. Which of these are too broad? Which are too narrow? Reply
to me directly or to the group as whole, it's up to you. Here you go:

   1. Striving for a clear definition of what is a 'web app' is politically
   charged and frankly not useful. Just don't go there...
   2. However, it would be useful to approach the problem from the other
   end. Articulate a list of 'app-ish' behaviors that are needed (e.g. Games
   need to go full screen to create an immersive effect.)
   3. Web apps don't have to look exactly like their native platform
   cousins. This "I need a back button in the upper right for iPhone but
   something else for Android" will lead to madness. It's ok to not look
   native. Get over it...
   4. Web apps need to exist outside of the browser user experience (e.g.
   running an app from an NFC launch event) This does not mean that the app
   exists outside the browser, just outside the experience (i.e. you can loose
   the URL bar). This, in effect, turns the browser into an underlying
   technology that can offer web technologies that don't feel at all like web
   pages.
   5. Just as "<!DOCTYPE html>" declares the page as HTML5, so do we need a
   similar mechanism to declare to the browser that 1 (or more) of these web
   app behaviors are in force.
   6. There needs to be a mechanism to turn off browser UX intrusions such
   as Android Chrome's edge dragging to next tab, and 'zoom in on ambiguous
   link tap'

Scott

Received on Friday, 3 May 2013 03:26:40 UTC