GUI Consultancy Services
Need independent GUI advice? From style reviews and icon design to full UI development - we can help
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Find out why Quintic is your ideal outsourced software development and consultancy partner
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Graphical User Interface (GUI) Consultancy and Design Projects
Quintic has many years of experience offering GUI consultancy, design and development services. Clients ask us to evaluate existing product GUIs, and make recommendations in respect of design and usability. We then often get involved in the GUI design and development process. Some of the GUI consultancy and design projects we have recently undertaken are listed below. Please note that due to individual confidentiality requirements, not all of our customers can be named or UI examples displayed.
GUI Style and Usability Review for Flow Analysis Software
Flowmaster Ltd,
a worldwide leader in the field of Fluid Flow Analysis Software, has been using Quintic’s services
to ensure that its products maintain their cutting-edge look and feel. The company’s goal is to adapt readily to an ever-changing software
environment, and exceed customer expectations.
In its role as an expert facilitator, offering an independent perspective when evaluating product usability, style and design, Quintic has been providing the following services:
| 1. GUI Review Services: | 3. Creation of GUI Style Guide: |
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| 2. Recommendations: | |
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Icon Design for Flow Analysis Software
As a result of Quintic’s recommendations in respect of product design and usability, Flowmaster Ltd commissioned our experts to design and develop a set of icons for their latest product release. The service includes:
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1. Review and classification of existing icons 2. Formulation of design criteria, such as:
3. Icon candidate design for agreement with customer 4. Full-scale icon design and development |
Symbol Design for Fluid Systems Schematics
Flowmaster Ltd also commissioned Quintic's GUI team to redesign its set of 218 symbols, used in its fluid flow analysis software to represent the components of systems to be analysed. The service includes:
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1. Review of existing symbols 2. Formulation of design criteria, such as:
3. Creation of symbol candidates for customer approval 4. Full-scale symbol design and development |
As the product expands, Flowmaster regularly calls on Quintic to design and develop additional GUI elements, including symbols for specialised applications.
GUI Consultancy for Online Trading Platform
BGC Partners, one of the world's leading inter-dealer brokers providing integrated voice and electronic services to wholesale market participants globally, asked Quintic to provide UI consultancy in respect of the Web-based version of its electronic trading platform, eSpeed. The client was looking for an updated look and feel for the Vista environment.
Each recommendation resulting from Quintic's UI critique included clear justifications for proposed changes, and provision of icons/images and GUI mock-ups for director-level approval where recommendations affected the appearance of icons, use of colour, colour gradients, graphical effects (e.g. glass) etc., ready for incorporation into the target application.
UI Design Consultancy and Icon Development for Aviation Market Information System
Quintic was asked to conduct a user interface review of a leading aircraft fleet management and aviation market information system. Quintic delivered a detailed user interface design document and style guide for the company's developers.
Quintic was then asked to design and develop new cartoon-like navigation buttons for the software to improve the product's look, feel and usability, incorporating the corporate colour scheme.
User Interface Consultancy, Design and Development for Biometric Registration Software
In this project, Quintic overhauled the user interface and data model of a software solution for schools, offering biometric multi-lesson registration. Quintic's team created UI mock-ups and icon sketches, followed by a prototype (a functional layout of their initial ideas) to implement the main use cases and prove initial UI design concepts. This was followed by hands-on usability reviews and refinements. At each stage of the process, the customer was consulted to create a quick feedback loop. Once prototypes were complete and proven, the main development process began, which meant implementing the rest of the use cases and putting the 'dressing' on the software dialogs, ensuring a highly attractive and up-to-date look and feel. On the database side of the project, Quintic moved the software from a data model based on XML files manually synchronised with the Schools Information Management Systems (SIMS) to one that is based on a local relational database, which can be automatically synchronised with SIMS. Aside from being able to display a much wider range of data, the benefits include improved performance, better interaction, data scalability, resilience and security.
User Interface Consultancy for Redesign of Client-Side Collaboration Software for Mobile Operators
Quintic provided consultancy services to a company delivering business solutions for messaging and mobile data services. Its products enable mobile operators and service providers to collaborate, and simplify the complexities of service provisioning and revenue assurance. Quintic assisted in the re-design of the UI for the client-side of these Web-based products, which needed to be redeveloped to share a unified UI framework, with a fundamental UI redesign. Quintic's role was to help the customer re-think the whole UI model, and work collaboratively with them towards a final design.
User Interface Consultancy Service for 3D Animation Software Application
In this project for a customer who develops revolutionary 3D animation software applications to communicate concepts, convey information more effectively, and produce entertainment, Quintic provided GUI consultancy services, including an independent UI review, usability study, analysis of functionality in competitive products, recommendations and an implementation investigation.
Icon Redesign for Energy Dispersive Microanalysis (EDS) Software
In this project Quintic was asked by the customer, who specialises in turning science into successful commercial tools and systems for industry and research, to redesign the icons of its instant microanalysis software.
Advisory Consultancy on Icon Redesign and UI Restyling
The customer, who provides integrated software solutions for local authorities and housing associations, wanted to update the user interface of a long-standing software package in line with the Windows XP look and feel, but avoid, where possible, a redesign of the entire user interface. Quintic was asked to review the user interface and product icons and suggest the most cost-effective way forward.
After initial evaluation and consultancy, Quintic's GUI experts produced a number of template icons with detailed design guidelines, allowing the customer's developers to apply the style consistently across all product icons as time and resource allows.
GUI Review of Networking Software
The client, a global supplier of communications solutions, asked Quintic to conduct an independent review of the user interface of a new networking product under development. The review, conducted on-site at the company's Italian office, considered areas such as ease of use/usability, visual and operational consistency, standards compliance, look and feel, and layout, taking into consideration the application's context, its target audience, its objective, its competitors and related software.
Touch Screen Software UI Consultancy and Design
The customer, a leading supplier of fresh food weighing systems, asked Quintic to help design a new look and feel for the user interface for its next generation of weighing system products, which make use of touch screen technology, combined with larger screens, full colour capability, and even better usability. Project phase one encompassed a full UI review of existing products for strengths and weaknesses, ease of use/usability, visual and operational consistency, standards compliance, look and feel, and layout, taking into consideration the applications' context, their target audience and objective. The second phase encompassed a new user interface design for implementation by the client, including story boards and use case scenarios for approval, and the production of finished screen mock-ups with interactive sequences mimicking the usability of the final product.
To find out more about Quintic's GUI consultancy and development expertise, click here, or contact us today to discuss how we can help with your GUI requirements.
The Flowmaster logo and name are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Flowmaster Ltd in the United Kingdom and in other countries, and are used
with kind permission from Flowmaster.
The BGC logo and name are trademarks or registered
trademarks of BGC Partners in the United Kingdom and in other countries, and are used
with kind permission from BGC Partners.