On Jul 1, 2008, at 5:02 PM, Dan Saffer wrote:
I'd rather set the users' expectations correctly than to have them click on a menu item and have a pop up appear telling them why they can't do that. A really long tooltip: "If you want to Paste an object, first you need to unlock this layer." is definitely better, but could have tons of conditionals.
I agree with you. Sure, there could be a lot of conditions, but they are known, so custom messages can be displayed for as many as need be. And, the length of the tooltip can be mitigated by wordsmithing.
Now, if you are creating a web app in which you have free reign over the UI (i.e. not tied to OS-specific widgets), you could add a small help icon beside disabled menu items that could open a pop-up, rather than a tooltip.
Jack Jack L. Moffett Interaction Designer inmedius 412.459.0310 x219 http://www.inmedius.com Design is a process - an intimate collaboration between engineers, designers, and clients. - Henry Dreyfuss ________________________________________________________________ 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
