Form Size

[bones]

Is there a specific form size that you seasoned programmers lean toward when you're designing a new application?

 

[jmcilhinney]

It would depend on what the form contains. You don't want the form to look too sparse or too cramped.

 

[bones]

It would depend on what the form contains. You don't want the form to look too sparse or too cramped.

I hear that.. But what I'm really driving at is with regard to screen resolution and how the forms display at various resolutions. My app will mostly be run on laptop computers attached to flow benches. Personally I run 1366 x 768. There are going to be guys that run perhaps 1024 x 768...or even different. Short of switching your screen resolution as you develop your forms, do you target a specific resolution as "standard"...if there is in fact a standard anything these days??

 

[jmcilhinney]

I hear that.. But what I'm really driving at is with regard to screen resolution and how the forms display at various resolutions. My app will mostly be run on laptop computers attached to flow benches. Personally I run 1366 x 768. There are going to be guys that run perhaps 1024 x 768...or even different. Short of switching your screen resolution as you develop your forms, do you target a specific resolution as "standard"...if there is in fact a standard anything these days??

Keep in mind that we only know what you tell us. It's best to say what you actually mean rather than assuming that we will read between the lines.

If your app is for a particular group then consider what resolution that group is likely to be using. In general though, you're rarely going to encounter anything less than 1024x768 so you should be safe with anything up to that. Your audience is going to start shrinking above that so only create forms bigger than that with very good reason.

 

[JohnH]

A couple of directly related articles:
Guidelines for supporting multiple screen sizes - Windows app development
Scaling to different screens - Building Windows 8 - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

Designing for screen sizes is often about managing layout, this article is from Windows Design Guidelines for Layout, and also includes guidelines for screen resolution: Layout (Windows)

I use a desktop wallpaper that shows the different resolutions and manually resize the window I'm developing (client app or browser) to see how UI will look at specific sizes. You have to find one that matches your current screen resolution, or create one yourself, so that it doesn't stretch and give you wrong impression of actual resolution. Here is one example: Screen resolutions desktop background image | LazaWorx

 

[nkotbox]

While Im not seasoned I wanted to chime in. I have been developing for work where some users have laptops while others are on pcs.
I have found that having the program remember its size when closed and then reapply this same size when next opens, seemed to please everyone.
Now everyone sets their own form size and thats how it reopens next time.

 

[JohnH]

It's a nice functionality that I often add myself, but you still have to design the application so that the layout works for various window sizes.