Scribd Desktop Uploader

You can install the real version here. Remember, it is the Windows version that is being described here.

Scribd tasked me with the following - support uploading multiple files, set metadata on those files, and have an "Upload" context menu item in the Explorer. That was basically the extent of my goals. I took those directives and added the following innovative and elegant features:

• Multiple account support
• Templates
• Rich Windows Desktop integration

The elegant part, in my opinion, is how the these features work together in a nice, neat, and whole package. Each feature plays off each other. The sum being greater than the whole.

For example, most people don't have multiple accounts, but some users do, juggling multiple business accounts, etc. To avoid making things more complex for the common case the UX starts with the simple/expected single account experience

But if you have multiple accounts note the "multiple account" link in the Login window above. Clicking that will open this window

Here you can configure up to 9 accounts

Once more than one account is configured you only see this richer Accounts window. Additionally the functionality back in the main window morphs to gracefully manage the multiple accounts

Thus the single account user only experiences a normal name/password login window and they don't need to interact with a strange popup that only ever has a single item (their 1 account). But when you add a second account the UX silently changes the status area to a popup to allow for quick switching between accounts.