Interface design question

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2 total messages Started by Ian upright Wed, 29 Nov 1995 00:23

Author: Ian upright
Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 00:23

50 lines
2411 bytes

We are trying to settle a difference of opinion about GUI interface
design.  Suppose that the object below is a self-contained window that
represents a graph.  Each 'x' represents a plotted point that you can
click on and drag to move it around in the graph.  Right-clicking
anywhere within the window brings up a popup menu of options to do
things like add a point or edit
attributes of the graph.

         100 !-----------------!
             !               _/!
             !   #         _/  !      A Graph of Y versus X 
             !           _x    !      showing 3 plotted points.
         Y   !         _/      !
             !        /        !      The in-between dashes represent 
             !       x         !      a line connecting the points.
             !     _/          !      
             !   _/            !      The background of the graph is
white.
             !  /              !      The area outside the window is
gray.
             ! x               !      The points and the line are
black.
             !/                !      The frame of the window is
black.
           0 !-----------------!
             0                10
                         X

If you were to double-click at the position of the '#' on the white
graph background what would you expect to happen?

  a) add point
  b) nothing
  c) open a dialog box

Sorry if this isn't the right place to post this question but we were
unsure
what newsgroup would be appropriate.

We would be extremely grateful if you could reply via email with your
opinon.

Thank-you.

Ian.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ICAN Systems Inc.                                       ian@ican.mlnet.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Re: Interface design question

Author: Theodore W. Hall
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 1995 08:21

30 lines
1998 bytes

ian@ican.mlnet.com (Ian upright) wrote:
> If you were to double-click at the position of the '#' on the white
> graph background what would you expect to happen?
>
>   a) add point
>   b) nothing
>   c) open a dialog box

It depends on what choices the hypothetical dialog box would
offer.

I vote for (c) open a dialog box, assuming that there's some
use for a dialog.  If I wanted to (a) add a point, I would
click closer to the graph (within some tolerance), and then
maybe drag away.

On the other hand, if there's no function for the dialog other
than "add a point", then I suppose you might as well go ahead
and add it (without a dialog), IFF you provide an "undo" for
those who didn't expect that action.  Users will quickly learn
what to expect, and won't want to be bothered with a "yes/no"
dialog box all the time.

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