The old grey SAP GUI screens have been replaced by modern, responsive and intuitive Fiori interfaces built to current web standards. But Fiori is not just a "theme" change — it is a fundamental transformation in how work gets done. So what should you pay attention to for a successful Fiori project?
5 Core Design Principles
The success of SAP Fiori is built on the following 5 core principles:
- Role-Based: Instead of complex menus, each user sees only the applications they need to do their specific job.
- Adaptive: Applications must work seamlessly on desktop, tablet and mobile devices, adjusting themselves to the screen size.
- Simple: The "1-1-3" rule (1 user, 1 scenario, 3 screens). Processes should be simplified as much as possible and unnecessary fields hidden.
- Coherent: All applications must speak the same design language. The sales order screen and the warehouse stock-count screen should share similar usage patterns.
- Delightful: The experience should be smooth, non-fatiguing and supported by micro-animations.
What's New in OData V4
The power behind modern Fiori applications is the OData protocol. Next-generation OData V4 offers significant advantages over V2:
- Advanced Queries: The $filter, $expand and $select commands are far more flexible.
- Batch Operations: Multiple data-update operations can be managed with a single HTTP request.
- Analytical Capabilities: The $apply command enables complex grouping and calculation operations on the frontend.
Fiori Elements vs. Freestyle UI5
In our projects we use two main approaches:
Fiori Elements: Using standard templates (List Report, Object Page) to develop applications very quickly — almost without writing any JavaScript — using only Annotations.
Freestyle UI5: Fully customised solutions built from scratch with XML Views and Controllers, for cases where standard templates are not enough and very specific visualisation or complex workflows are required.
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