At Increo, we put a great deal of time and thought into our designs and features – we keep things simple while giving users the power and options they need. We believe a clean UI is integral to a smooth and memorable user experience. Here are a few examples of our philosophy in action:

3 easy steps to creating a Backboard

1. Choose your file to upload.
2. Pick some settings and write a few words about what you uploaded.
3. Invite your reviewers (or invite them later)

That’s it. You don’t need to leave the homepage to start Step 1.  You don’t need to change anything in Step 2. And you don’t even need have an account before you start to create your Backboard.

Hide stuff when you don’t need it

• Step 2 (Customize) is probably the least fun step, so we tried to make it as simple as possible. For instance, the Advanced Options (for downloading, printing, and deadlines) are initially hidden so they’re not intrusive. The user who is looking for more options will find them, and the user who is going through quickly isn’t bothered by more choices.
• In the case you do need a deadline, we make it as easy as possible - just one drop down menu for any day in the upcoming two weeks (and, of course, you can use the full-blown monthly calendar selector if you need a custom deadline).

• When you’re viewing a Backboard, a reviewer’s contextual markup is hidden unless you mouse over that user’s feedback. That way you don’t have 20 different markings from 5 different reviewers getting in the way of you and the document.

Tools: Not too many, not too few

Sometimes you’ll come across a new web application you’re just overwhelmed by the number of tools and choices.  We try to avoid that at all costs. We could have created a zoom tool, a hand tool, a pen tool, and a highlighting tool, each with its own little button. But instead of cluttering the page with buttons menu items, potentially confusing you, we only activate tools when you need them. When you’re looking through the document, you get the hand tool. Only when you’re leaving feedback do you get the red pen. And only when you’re over selectable text do you get the text-highlighting cursor.

As you can see, we’re always striving to make Backboard elegant and effective, so keep giving us feedback!