First Look: Microsoft Health Common User Interface (CUI)

My initial impression is that the current implementation of the Microsoft Health CUI (v1.0.114.000) is strong on depth and weak on breadth. Because of the limited number of components available this software is too early in its implementation of be of much use in a real product. For example, the first thing I would need is a 'PatientGrid' component, which doesn't exist yet. This is just the first CTP, so missing features are be to expected.

Here are the component lists for WinForms and Web applications:

The design guidance documents are the most impressive aspect of this project. Each control has its own complete document that includes sections like 'How to Use the Design Guidance' and 'How Not to Use the Design Guidance'. The higher level terminology and accessibility guidance documents are equally as comprehensive. As a software developer that has had to work from ambiguous requirements specifications, nothing is left to the imagination here. The requirements for some components (e.g. AddressLabel) are written to UK specifications, but that's be expected since CUI is being developed there.

The Visual Studio integration is good and the source code for the individual components appear to be well constructed and documented.

The CUI Roadmap isn't very specific, but I like the design guidance driven approach. All of the up-front design work makes me think of my previous post on Agile development. The CUI Delivery Lifecycle is described as iterative, but I doubt it's actually being developed using one of the Agile methodologies. In any case, I'll continue to watch the progress of this project and look forward to future releases. It could be my excuse to actually use (instead of just playing with) WPF someday!