Zoho Start - A one-stop page to access all your Zoho services is launched now. UI wise, it may not be attractive yet. Plain grayscale with fewer options. Our objective was to get out the product soon. This will help us to get more constructive feedback from users. We are in the process of enhancing the UI and Usability of Zoho Start. So very soon you will see rich and good-looking - Zoho Start. 
Click less navigation is going to be the next evolution in Interaction Design. The objective is to make the User interface respond for Mouse Hover events. This interaction method is getting popular and is practiced in many websites and even web applications. Microsoft’s websites make good use of this interaction model for choosing tabs. Just hover over the tabs and the content is displayed.
Some of the eligible applications of this interaction method would be .. Hover-drop down, Tabs, on-hover pop ups etc.
Extracting valuable information from raw data is one secret behind successful User Experience Design.
Imagine you are working in a Invoicing application product. Different people belonging to various organizational hierarchy may access the product. A CEO may look at how many invoices generated? how much is the revenue? what are the last month’s stats ? etc. A sales manager may prefer to see if this months target has been achieved or not, what are the long standing invoices, status of his sales people etc. For a sales /accounts guy, he is concerned about what are the invoices to be raised today, pending invoices, upcoming invoices, follow-up calls etc. So when designing the application, make sure you identify the user base and address the user base properly. Provide relevant dashboards for user base.
- Rajesh Sundaram
In Web UI design, padding plays a great role in creating a good User Interface. Padding separates two elements.. or it adds space between elements. A good padding helps your User interface to look clutter free and creates a “fresh” and easy visual navigation. Just don’t neglect padding.. use them properly and see the magic !
In my experience, padding has helped me a lot to create a good looking UI. Proper spacing of UI elements is one of the secret of successful User Interfaces. A padding of 3 or 4 pixels add a decent space and a padding of 5 creates a “generous” space effect. To create a good “indent” effect, I usually use 20px on the left side padding. A 50px padding creates a “wider” effect, and I rarely use it in my UI design.
Any UI designer will face this problem : ‘Which one to prioritize first? an UI Fix or an UI Enhancement?’. Let us understand what is an UI Fix and UI Enhancement.
What is an UI Fix?
UI Fixes are something that fixes the UI issue. A fix is applied to an UI which is currently in use or being tested or which does not fulfill the requirement / use case.
What is an UI Enhancement?
UI Enhancements are something that are ‘nice-to-have’ or ‘can-live-without-it’ type of additional luxury. An enhancement is usually applied to some UI which is already functioning to meet the user’s requirements.
Now, to keep the principle simple… stick to apply the UI fixes first. And then go for UI enhancements. Why? coz the user interface should work first to offer the functionality. So, make the UI to function properly. Enhancements are like luxury and they need not necessarily applied in the first run itself. You can always enhance UI or experience in the second and third run onwards.
Just thought, how many nicks do I have?…. they are :
1. dharma - with adventnet internal and external blogs
2. saint - with adventnet internal blog and vtiger community
3. radiant - with vtiger community
4. rajesh sundaram - okay this is my name.
oh ! i have a bunch of nicks hee hee
Stimulations is the 24 hour coffee shop aka multi cuisine restaurant at The Checkers Hotel, Chennai. You can reach the hotel from Adyar by taking right at the Alexander Square turn and immediately pull over to the left within 100 ft. From Guindy cross the the bridge and slow down after you cross ABT. You should be able to locate the hotel to the left side just before Temple Steps.
Multi Cuisine
As of now, they are focusing on veg and non-veg buffet services. A-la Carte is available and the menu is not yet fixed. You should be able to get anything you wanted. Alcohol is served upon request. The food items ranges between North Indian, South Indian, Mughlai and Chinese.
Ambience
Well lit, spacious and airy ambience inside. Wide plasma TVs for audio-visual entertainment. You can find the buffet counters to the right, upon entering into Stimulations. The tables are arranged to the left. The tables are good and the seating is better following a mix of contemporary / old fashion chairs along with new-age tables. Does that stimulate your senses? may be!
Food and Quality
For a startup, the quality of food is good. The chef is careful about the salt. Not much.. not less. Perfect! The chickens are tender and the potatoes are softer. Hope they maintain the same quality or else, they will loose the name like GRT’s Copper Chimney.
You can start the buffet with an assortment of salads and starters. Around some 10 dishes are served as starters. To dress up, you can use ginger olive oil, Wine Vinegar etc. 3 type of breads are offered along with cheese and other standard companions. Roasted papads are available too. The main course and companions were a mix of north, south and chinese dishes. Every day it keeps changing. The taste is good and quality of food is great! The daal, rasam were homely! I couldnt find any complaints with the spiciness of the food. Certain dishes should be prepared spicey.. and they were spicey enuf. Never burned your lips or tongue. Simply stimulating.
The desserts are limited in numbers.. few sweets, pudding and cakes. Though limited in numbers, they are good in taste. You get one payasam and one ice cream.
Conclusions
Considering the quality of food, ambience and taste, Rs.300 per head is worthy. For those who are looking for a new restaurant and a good food in and around Guindy, Adyar, Velachery.. Stimulations is one good choice. Enjoy.
For reservations or enquiry call : The Checkers hotel -044-4399 4399.