Rich Internet Applications (and how to manage them)

Rich Internet
Applications
(and how to manage them)
Wh-39709-US-113
W h i t e P a p e rW h i t e P a p e r
Introduction
As Web sites move toward a richer user experience, rich internet applications Where (RIAs) are becoming the method of choice to dynamically engage site visitors. But traditional even as sites are designed around RIAs built on Microsoft Silverlight and Adobe Flex, businesses and organizations are looking for the best possible ways to sites have manage the data that these Web applications rely on.to overcome
hurdles to From static to dynamic Web sitesprovide
dynamic, The internet has always been about sharing information; at its beginning, the information share was a one-way street, accessing static files from a Web file interactive server. Databases, templates and scripting languages lead to page scalability and experiences, allowed Web sites to become more dynamic and interactive. With the introduction of Web 2.0, sites began to turn into true software applications and the internet RIAs provide became a communications platform.
intuitive and Developers and designers began to take advantage of these new capabilities and engaging further evolved them, creating dynamic environments for site visitors to interact in. Static Web sites no longer meet the needs of their users, and developers are interfaces looking for new and innovative ways to set their site apart and keep visitors coming between back.
users and the
Web site's Rich Internet Applications
information. RIAs are exactly as described: rich internet applications. Where traditional Web sites have to overcome hurdles to provide site visitors with dynamic, interactive experiences, RIAs can provide intuitive and engaging interfaces between users and the Web site's information. Their functions range from being stores, complex selection tools to image galleries; any level of interaction that is desired can be produced.
But why an RIA and not a traditional HTML site? Certainly, some RIA functionality can be built with HTML code, but the traditional HTML site experience is flat, and is not the best solution for real-time or event-based interaction. The linear processing of a non-RIA Web site limits flexibility, and users can only move back and forth within processes on what has been the standard for Web sites until recently. On these sites, when a user inputs or needs to manipulate data, each action needs a page to be loaded. Undoing actions means backing up to older pages, with a greater risk of data loss.
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RIAs improve this experience immensely, letting developers and designers give more flexible control to their Web site's visitors. Unlike the way traditional sites function, RIAs let users input and manipulate data directly on the screen, and users are able to change data (and even undo actions) without losing other important data. With instant response, change is visible immediately and the fields in forms can be validated before submission, resulting in faster processing. RIAs can contain whole processes, rather than spreading a process over several different pages.
When you need an RIA
One of the key elements in the successful implementation of RIAs is knowing when to use them. Smart use of RIAs can create a Web site that behaves the way users want and expect them to: intuitively and similarly to desktop application. The information flow on sites that are built on these principles is faster and more predictable for site visitors, and they will stay sites longer as they find (and are guided to) the information they want.
Not all Web pages on a site need RIAs. Some static information is better served with traditional pages. The reality is that the most successful sites combine both traditional elements alongside more dynamic RIAs. For instance, the LG Mobile Phones Web site (www.lgmobilephones.com) uses RIAs to provide a dymanic, interactive site experience.
From the front page, visitors are exposed to the fluid functionality of an RIA with LG's mobile phone selector. Users of the Web site are easily able see the phones that are available and scroll through them in a dynamic, 3-D sequence. Selecting a phone to look at is a simple click and goes to a more traditional page that is better suited for laying out lists of features, reviews and other resources. Some of the more adv... [download for more]