I work on a lot of sites, such as church sites, where users have very little to no experience manipulating data through a web interface and I always give them confirmation that their action was completed.
It's very comforting to them...in the same way that a confirmation that a payment I make online was accepted and processed correctly. I also provide a link back to the same page they arrived from to allow for further data changes.� Links right in the confirmation text provides easy access to the most likely steps the user will take when using the interface, e.g. "Click here to add another announcement."� Because most likely, they're adding multiple announcements, and this saves *them* extra steps in using the app.� More work for me, but a better more comfortable experience for them, which I've found, when moving people from software-based�applications to web applications is critical in their acceptance of the "different" experience of constantly page-changing web apps.� It takes some getting used to... (Personally, I can't wait until a more "intuitive" way to build RIA's comes into being...Flash Interface...Blech...and I do timeline editing and animation for video production all the time...) My design patterns simply cater to the users of the app...that's what brings more business...happy users who relate their experience to other potential clients... Rick ---------------------------------------- From: "Jared Rypka-Hauer - CMG, LLC" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2005 11:23 PM To: CF-Talk <[email protected]> Subject: Re: Basic web interface question Either option 1 or a confirmation page... "Your updates have been saved" with a redirect to the original list page. I generally try to use something that keeps the architecture to a minimum and the user's experience very straightforward. If that means some extra work for me, that's fine because it generally results in a more optimal experience for the user. Something I've been thinking a lot about lately is the fact that too often we try to save work for ourselves... what's the point? It's great to keep development time down (and especially on-budget) but if the net effect reduces the pleasantness of the user's experience, I see myself as having failed miserably. It goes back to the ideas presented in a post on Hal Helms's blog about his frustrations with phone support at a hotel chain. If the user ends up frustrated or confused the time spent on development is a total waste. Laterz, J On 5/4/05, Dave Merrill wrote: > > It's not like I haven't done this before, in various ways, but I might as > well ask as long as I'm rethinking life... > > Say you have the very normal situation with search screen leading to a > list > of records, drill in to edit or create one. Where do you take the user > when > they save an edited record? > > - Back to the record list, with their previous search criteria still in > place? That seems most intuitive, but it means hanging on to those search > criteria while editing, which is potentially a multiple-screen wizard-like > thing. Not impossible by any means, but an architectural commitment, if > you're thinking generically. > -- --------------- ------------------------------------- Buy SQLSurveyor! http://www.web-relevant.com/sqlsurveyor Never make your developers open Enterprise Manager again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Logware (www.logware.us): a new and convenient web-based time tracking application. Start tracking and documenting hours spent on a project or with a client with Logware today. Try it for free with a 15 day trial account. http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=67 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:4:205632 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:4 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
