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The Ideal XenApp User Experience - A few years back our usability and design teams started a comprehensive research project aimed at crafting the ideal user experience for XenApp. The results were not at all encouraging for Program Neighborhood. It turns out that the best thing we could do is to become invisible. Users want to get to their Apps so they can get work done. Our mission became to focus on a completely transparent user experience. Launching a XenApp delivered application should be like, or better then, launching a locally installed application. The new XenApp Plugin coupled with the Citrix Receiver and some core changes to XenApp around the way we launch applications are all under active development and are instrumental to helping us achieve this vision. Unfortunately there is no room, or need, for Program Neighborhood is this new model.
Program Neighborhood is the first user interface from the early WinFrame days. It's basically a launch pad for XenApp delivered Apps. Users are always aware that they are launching a different type of application, one that is somehow different and delivered in a different way. The user experience term for this is "cognitive dissonance" or more commonly known as "Just plain confusing". The PN interface has years of switches,options and settings that, while important at the time they were added, no longer have any real value and only provide a source of complexity and confusion for the user.
The XenApp Plugin - is designed to seamlessly integrate XenApp into the users environment. It does this by placing XenApp delivered shortcuts directly into the users StartMenu. These shortcuts are standard windows shortcuts and can be manipulated by the users in the same way. They can be copied on to the users desktop, or into their quicklaunch bar, etc ... (See my video demo of this) The important point is that there is no special training involved, no additional program to launch and, in fact, no need for the user to know that the App is any different than other apps they use.
Some advanced answers to anticipated questions.
1: Are there additional requirements for the XA Plugin above and beyond what I need for Program Neighborhood?
* Yes. The XA Plugin requires the XenApp Web Interface Service to provide the web services that drive the user experience. If you already have Web Interface in your XenApp farm it's simply a matter of creating an additional XenApp Services site on your WI Server.
2: When is this happening?
* Program Neighborhood will not be one of the Plugins offered in the componentized client that we are planning to release in late 2009.
3: I use Program Neighborhood as a diagnostic tool to connect directly to a Server. Will I still have this ability in the new Plugin?
* Probably. We are looking at options to provide similar functionality in the new client model. It may be a separate Plugin, a feature of the XenApp Plugin or something else.
Comments (10)
Jan 08, 2009
Jens-Peter Rosin says:
"Program Neighborhood is the first user interface from the early WinFrame days....."Program Neighborhood is the first user interface from the early WinFrame days..."
Mmmh, that's not the whole story.
Please replace WinFrame with MetaFrame... The Program Neighborhood was introduced with MetaFrame 1.8. Before there was the Remote Application Manager, much more simple...
BTW: Point 3 is very important. There must be still an efficient way to simply contact / test the functionality of a XenApp server.
Jan 10, 2009
Albert Grandville says:
Program Neighborhood was first released in 1999 for both WinFrame 1.8 and MetaFr...Program Neighborhood was first released in 1999 for both WinFrame 1.8 and MetaFrame 1.8. Our customers were still in the throws of the NT 3.51 to 4.0 conversion so we were updating and supporting both at the time. The point is, that was 10 years ago. PN made a lot of sense then but it's relevance has long since past.
Al-
Jan 12, 2009
Anonymous says:
add what is about thing cilents ?add what is about thing cilents ?
Jan 12, 2009
Albert Grandville says:
What are you asking ? Both Windows and Linux based Thin Clients support the Web ...What are you asking ? Both Windows and Linux based Thin Clients support the Web UI and the XenApp Plugin.
Al-
Jan 13, 2009
Anonymous says:
on thin clients you (mostly) want to open a full-desktop ica connection (...on thin clients you (mostly) want to open a full-desktop ica connection (in and easy and automatic way) and nothing more...
Jan 13, 2009
Albert Grandville says:
We understand that. We have developed a concept of a "Desktop Appliance" which i...We understand that. We have developed a concept of a "Desktop Appliance" which is a thin client designed specifically to deliver a virtualized desktop. To that end we have made recent improvements to both the XenApp Plugin and the Web UI that allow the auto launch of a full screen desktop. PnClassic is not needed, or required, for this.
Al-
Jan 13, 2009
Anonymous says:
What method or tools are you going to give the user to clear their bitmap cache?...What method or tools are you going to give the user to clear their bitmap cache? Manage their own hotkeys or set up logging when you need to test a connection?
Jan 13, 2009
Albert Grandville says:
We are reviewing all of the utility of PNClassic and if the functionality is sti...We are reviewing all of the utility of PNClassic and if the functionality is still relevant and has merit we will continue it. We will most likely add hotkey mapping to the XenApp Plugin and we are working out a spec for a diagnostic utility.
Al-
Oct 15
Anonymous says:
Our users have been using Program Neighborhood since 1999. Now you're forcing t...Our users have been using Program Neighborhood since 1999. Now you're forcing them to change their access methods. And this is supposed to reduce confusion? I don't think so. I have no problems with introducing new access methods (PN Agent), but don't remove something that people already know and use. This is just asking for problems.
Additionally, I disagree with the "cognitive dissonance" thing. Whether Citrix wants to admit it or not, Citrix-based apps are different than locally installed and run apps - especially for user support issues. PN Agent tries to disguise that fact. I'm not sure why. When configuring PN Agent, I always put app icons in a separate folder in the Start menu to show that these are remote apps. I want to enphasize the difference.
And of course, PN Agent can't handle alternate credentials. Whereas in PN, you can simply create a new Application Set to logon with a different account. Now they have to create and maintain a new app called Quick Launch to support this function. Wouldn't it have been easier to keep maintaining PN - something you already know.
Oct 21
Anonymous says:
I understand your concerns, but it is difficult to support some of these older p...I understand your concerns, but it is difficult to support some of these older platforms when newer, better alternatives become available. However, we recognize the feature you are concerned about is unique and have provided a Quick Launch utility to help customers like you overcome this limitation. We recently published it on KB. I hope that helps.
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