1. KISS -- I sometimes have to do list administration and moderation from my Treo 650, so anything that depends on graphics, JavaScript, CSS, or anything fancy is really bad news.
Ug, yeah. There's so much cruft stuck in so many places that I've just started over writing (x)html templates. I will be using CSS mostly so that underneath the pages can be Very Simple; I've got a Palm TX and table pages can be brutal. Additionally, I fully intend to have a CSS file just for mobile devices.
I will also be using JavaScript to add responsiveness to the UI for traditional browsers, but I swear on a stack of comic books that It Shall Degrade Gracefully.
Stick to a pure text-only UI as much as possible,
Please forgive my insouciance on this point, but I believe one of the weaknesses of the current interface is that it provides no visual cues as to what is important/relevant. I will be using icons to draw the user's eye to relevant details, but I have no intention of gobbling up screen space for bling or committing similar crimes like using image-only links; the interface will be fully functional and aesthetically reasonable with images turned completely off.
and try doing some actual tests with various PDAs and phones, as well as all common browsers (including Safari) on all common desktop platforms (including MacOS X).
Well, I've got me a testing lab right here! I'm only slightly kidding. Aside from the aforementioned TX, I have an intel mac, so I plan on installing Windows soon so I can see how things work on that end.
I'm also going to make sure it's fine in links or lynx.
I would hate to see all the current WebUI code get thrown out and replaced with a Web2.0 AJAX/.NET framework.
I will be using some XMLHTTPRequest action, but only to allow partial-form-submission, and it will degrade to "submit the whole page" gracefully.
2. Functionality & 3. Completeness
I'm not committed to doing much with these problems in this project, but I assure you it is my desire as well; I'm hoping to get us closer to the day where there is One Holy UI that works identically across web/email/cli.
I'm not sure you fully understand how important. Or how difficult. ;)
Thanks! happily I feel like I'm making quite a bit of progress, so I think we might just get something viable out of this.
~ethan