OpenBox enables users to add Services to their Box.net account. An OpenBox service give a Box.net user Actions to perform on their files — for example, "Edit Document", "Send with eFax", "Publish to Scribd", and so on. Here's what the user experience for this process looks like.

 

1. Add a service

 

A user logs in to their Box.net account and clicks the OpenBox Services link at top right.

 

 

 

This takes the user to the My OpenBox Services page, where they can view the services added to their account. All Box.net users start with Zoho (for document editing) and Picnik (for image editing) already added to their account.

 

 

The "Browse Services" link takes the user to the Box.net Public Directory. Box.net Services are not automatically listed here. OpenBox developers must specify in the Service creation process whether or not the Service should be public. Even if the service is marked as public, Box.net must review and approve the service to be included in the directory.

 

 

 

 

 

A user clicks "Add Service" to add a service. They are prompted that the service will now be given access to the files on which the user performs actions. If the user clicks OK, then the service is added.

 

 

 

 

By adding a service, the user adds all the actions of this service to their account. When the user returns to the My Files tab and clicks the drop down menu for that type of file, they see the action in the drop down menu. For example, the Myxer OpenBox Service has two actions: "Create wallpaper" and "Create ringtone". "Create wallpaper" acts on images and "Create ringtone" acts on MP3 files. If a user clicks the drop-down menu on an MP3 file, they will see the "Create ringtone" action:

 

 

2. Perform an Action

 

When the user clicks "Create ringtone," they are performing an action on their file. A prompt appears, the contents of which is defined by the developer of the service.

 

 

When the user clicks OK, either a new window will pop up, enabling the user to specify more options or complete an action, or the prompt will disappear and the action will complete on the server (and the user will be notified of success or failure).

 

2a. Pop-up Actions

 

For pop-up actions, a pop-up will appear which will help complete the action. Zoho and Picnik are examples of services with pop-up actions.

 

 

 

 

2b. Server-Side Actions

 

A server-side action does not require a popup to open. Publish to Scribd or Twitter are examples of server-side actions. When the user clicks OK, Box.net POSTs a request to Scribd or Twitter's servers, and shows the result in a confirmation message in the user's Box.net window.

 

 

 

 

Next Steps

 

Now that you have an understanding of the OpenBox user experience, continue to the OpenBox Request Workflow.

 

 

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