Hi guys,
Its a web app that scales down to tablet size and the available real estate is about 40% width.
The IA is on the larger side.
Customers expectations are low based on similar apps and they are probably more conditioned to a UX from their personal internet use.
Appetite for change is there as the greenhouse control industry has very old UX/UI.
Considering my horizontal real estate is low Im leaning away from the column design. Drag and drop organisational functionalist between parent folders is desirable so Im leaning towards the tree view.
Personally my favorite or most commonly used folder UX is the breadcrumb with full screen folder context. I like that it has the visual real estate dedicated to the context you are within and then the bread crumb can be used to navigate back up the parent folders. I also think this view has power in the differentiation between file types by using larger icons and thumb nails.
Where I see it lack is in the ability to have multiple sibling folders open and be able to move files between child folders of different parents. Which is where the tree view excels. But I think tree view can become a little chaotic and overwhelming too…
Its great when these two methods can be used together but I just dont have room for that.
I guess what Im curious about is what do people think the pros and cons are for different methods and if there are any trends in certain directions?