Metrix 5's 'Smokin' User Interface

By Larry Laux
President and Founder

There’s a ton of things to talk about from our recent Metrix 5 product announcement. Some of you have asked me about it, and I think this blog is a useful vehicle for responding to some questions.

This first set of points relates to the User Interface (UI) of the new product.

If you’re so proud of your UI, why are your screens fuzzy on your website?
Yes, those screen shots are fuzzy, and it’s not a problem with your computer. We intentionally set them up that way. We now have an advantage, a big advantage, against all competitors in our space with our new smokin’ UI (footnote – marketing wouldn’t let me call it smokin’ in the press release, but I have more leeway in the blog).

We decided that legitimate prospective customers can, of course, see the UI in a demonstration. Even that will be given only after we have qualified the prospect and understand that they have a project, that we fit the needs of the projects, etc. But there is no sense in letting the competition see it for free. They have to figure it out on their own – we did.

OK, so what’s so ‘smokin’ hot about it?
Very tricky, ask for the goods without a demo. Well, there are several items that fit the ‘smokin’ category. First, it utilizes the NET 3.0 Windows Presentation Foundation toolset to present content on the screen in a visually appealing, easy-to-look-at way. Transparency, zoom animation, color and other Vista Aero benefits are leveraged so the user can focus on the content, not the UI.

Also, the segments of the screens work together logically. If the user focuses on a particular subset of information on the screen, the software ‘understands’ that they might also want related info, and is ready to make that info available and easy to view.

And the concept of work done recently is used in a common sense way. For example, if a user had certain information on the screen fifteen minutes ago, they can ‘jump back’ to that point very easily. This ‘remembering’ feature should be a big productivity boost, as compared to existing software that makes the user remember (and even worse, type key information in again) to go back to where they were just a few minutes before.

There’s more, but that’s enough to get you started..

Do I have to upgrade all my PCs to utilize the new UI?
You do NOT have to have Vista to use Metrix 5. Of course, to gain maximum benefit of the Aero and other features native to Vista, you need Vista. Another method of running Metrix 5 is directly from your Web browser. And the browser-based version isn’t some scaled down version of the full application - in a browser you’ll see exactly the same UI and have access to all of the same features and functionality you have in the installed version.

So what’s the point?
As with most work we do here at Metrix, the point is either letting you save money, or make more money, or both. This UI should let new users train up more quickly, be more efficient doing their jobs, and provide more accuracy in your data. All of those things should make more money for your company (and as a byproduct, make your employees and customers happier, too).

Tom Bowe, Metrix’s Vice President of Product Marketing and Engineering, and I will be writing more about Metrix 5 over the next weeks and months. As always, your constructive comments and questions are most welcome.