Is it time to go FLUID?

Fluid is the buzzword that is currently doing the rounds in Peoplesoft world. In physics, a fluid is a substance that continually deforms under an applied shear stress. Alright, but what this has to do with Peoplesoft?? This new fluid stuff is going to help us fit our static Peoplesoft pages across various form factors - When I say various form factors, it means the page fits into any device of any size.

So here comes the next question.. Does Fluid only implies going mobile? Answer is a big NOOOO.. This is a general misconception/myth that is commonly widespread among us. So what exactly is this fluid thing?

- Fluid is a new way of using the system

- with a new navigation paradigm

- simplified/modern and intuitive User Interface 

- which has the capability to run on any device.

The beauty of the Fluid User Interface lies in its ability to generate responsive and adaptive UI. If your business users are in a middle of a meeting (We all know how boring those meetings could be 😊) and need to access some recruitment related analytics, they can access it on the fly using their iPad with the new fluid UI. Your boss can approve your leave on his way back home travelling in a train/car. 

As you can see, the fluid UI is more into targeting casual business users, so don’t expect to have all your Peoplesoft classic pages converted to fluid, for instance a job data page has no necessity to be accessed on a mobile. When I say this, you will a question tinkering your mind. If all pages are not meant to be fluid, will I not have an inconsistent UI between pages?? To solve this Peoplesoft has delivered a new branding style called “Classic-Plus” which is fluid-like styling to unify the look and feel within Peoplesoft. 

What does fluid mean to everyone involved:

- For a casual self-service user, you have a new system with look and feel of leading websites.

- For a user with manager level privilege, you can now easily approve any critical business transaction using fluid approvals.

- For a director level user, you have simplified analytics that can help you make strategic management decisions.

- If you are part of delivery team, you couldn’t ask for more with delighted end-users and lower training costs.

- For Developers, you will have an additional responsibility to learn new skills ( HTML5/CSS3/ Javascript) adding value to your profile.

Sample Fluid Page

There are few risks and challenges that needs to be addressed in this implementation 

- System Load Fluid UI Apps expands the user community, and puts additional load on system.

- Performance on mobile devices Mobile devices use data services which are generally not so fast, hence performance on mobile devices can be slower than expected.

The future of Peoplesoft is Fluid, Oracle has dramatically extended its investment in Fluid User experience. Many customers have already moved to fluid. Don’t wait too long, you’ll be left behind in the race. Have a clear implementation plan, explore the new features that are delivered and go for it, I am pretty much sure the end users will be delighted and so do you.

In the next few months, we will have more interesting articles coming up focusing on fluid development/tips and how to work with classic plus. Stay tuned!!!

Feel free to drop your feedback/suggestions.