Slicer3:TranslatingBrandIntoUIDesign

Return to Slicer3 Interface Design and Usability

General Design Guidelines that Reinforce Slicer's Brand

Core values of the 3D Slicer software and development effort

Software associations:

• Clarity & usability
• Control & Precision
• Information richness
• Interactive & responsive
• Reliable & Trusted
• Easily extensible
• Open source & cross-platform
• Showcase for advanced research

Effort associations:

• Advancing scientific research
• Assisting treatment/therapy
• Established and long-term

Design concepts that reinforce the brand

• Clean white background
• Precise hairline around buttons, icons, menubuttons, and white background
• Black text labels where reasonable.
• Either consistently use custom checkbuttons or radiobuttons (for cross-platform consistency), or do not use custom checkbuttons or radiobuttons anywhere. see:
• Verdana is the font of choice, if GUI toolkit permits (can compromise on this for usability issues).

Acknowledgement:

• Provide space for acknowledgement for any software module within the module.
• Preserve the footprint of space beside Slicer's logo, and do not include other logos here.

Optimize readability:

• Where possible, multiple pop-up interfaces should be avoided; this can lead to clutter.
• Functionality in module interfaces should be clearly and cleanly grouped
• Where possible, group functionality in collapsible frames, so a user can hide unused elements
• The highest level of functionality grouping should be visually dominant (e.g. "Input", "Parameters", "Display", "Results")
• A secondary level of functionality grouping should be more subtle, and visually distinct from the highest level.
• The density of widgets should be carefully considered. Widget packing should provide enough space to maintain readability, yet compact enough to minimize the need for scrolling.
• All widgets have balloon help on mouse-over for clarity.