Corporate software development is usually about how much code can be pushed out in the shortest amount of time. Rarely is the quality of the user interface considered. The end result of this approach to development is a difficul-to-use interface that requires a large amount of support.

However you, the developer, can control some of this. If, during the development process, you make a conscious effort towards creating a more useable interface, the results can be dramatic.

Every developer wants her application to be loved by the users. Here are a few tips that can help you make that happen.

Make A Good First Impression

The first impression is the most important impression. A user can easily be turned off by an interface that simply does not look finished. Consider, for example, the application's icon. There it is, sitting on the user's desktop. Does it fit the purpose of your application? Does the icon look good? These are important issues to consider. As developers, we are accustomed to things not being "quite right," the user of your application wants it to just work for them and to look nice. Taking the effort to make sure the icon is appropriate for the application is an excellent first step to making your software more appealing to your users.

When the application starts up, does it take a long time to load? Depending on the language your software is written in, start up times can vary widely. Some languages and/or applications can have a start up time measured in minutes. If this is unavoidable with your application, consider giving the users something to look at while they wait. A simple splash screen can be the difference between a customer support call and a patient user. If the start-up time is extremely long, consider putting a progress bar on the splash screen as well, so that the user knows, without a doubt, that the software is busy doing something important.

However, the best answer is to try and reduce the start up time as much as possible. Lazy initialization can be one solution to this very common problem.