Nancy, We are working on a similar system! What about having all the behavior happen on rollover (skip the clicking part.) When the user has rolled over the item - no other areas can be active. Then when the user rolls - off the the focused item with text, etc, or clicks a small close box - all areas become active again. (depending on the situation, a small directive telling the user that they can get more info on rollover may be necessary).
If that isn't practical, I would still say that while an item is active (clicked on), that other roll overs should be disabled until the user either actively closes the interaction or rolls off of it. Donna On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:26:08 -0400, Nancy Roberts wrote > Hi all, > I am working on an online application that explores the anatomy of certain > body systems. > > In one section, we have a cross-cut diagram of a body part (the eye) > . Next to it is a list of its subparts (macula, retina, cornea, etc.). > > Originally, it was intended that when any of these items was clicked, > that would launch a highlight on the subpart, a voice over, and a > text box explaining what the part is and does. > > The graphic designer added a roll-over function, which would > highlight the subpart as each item is rolled over. > > The problem is obvious: if we are clicked into an item, reading the > text and listening to the vo, should the user be able to continue to > roll over other items in the list? If so, how should that roll over > be distinguished from the item we are clicked into? If the user is > locked out of rolling over, how do you restore this function after > the user is finished learning about the subpart (if he clicks into > another item, he is still not in rollover mode). > > If this is not sufficiently confusing, I can probably make it more > so. :-) > > Any ideas or best practices suggestions I can return to my team with? > > Thanks! > > Nancy > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
