24 Aug
2009
24 Aug
'09
6:54 p.m.
On Aug 24, 2009, at 4:47 PM, Anca Luca wrote:
To help, imagine the following interaction model
(which we envisage
but it's not
a priority right now): in a wizard step, if the step form is
invalid, the "Next"
button is disabled (for example if the user has to make a selection,
the "Next"
button will only become enabled after the selection has been made).
Now, given
that the "Finish" button would be present on _all_ steps but
disabled, I think
it can become a little confusing for the user, who wouldn't know if
there is
something he needs to select, fill in, etc to enable it.
I'd go for minimal UI (i.e. all buttons on the footer strip, but
invalid buttons
are invisible).
I am not an UI expert but as an Eclipse user this semantics would
confuse me.
When I create a project in Eclipse, for Example, I have the "Finish
button" present on all the wizard forms but disabled (not that Eclipse
is the reference for UIs though :))
It becomes enabled only when I can "finish" the creation process early
or when I am at the end of the wizard and everything validates.
If you hide disabled buttons you end up with with situations where you
have three kinds of "configurations"
1) Enabled buttons
2) Disabled buttons but not hidden (the next button in a wizard when
the form is not complete)
3) Disabled and hidden buttons (like the finish button in you previous
example)
I don't think you want to make the "next" button appear and disappear
as the user edits the form, doesn't you? I think this would be weird
imho.
-Fabio