Do you mean that the application will open a (web) browser for each task? Or, do you mean that the application will have tabs for navigating, but all navigation will reside in the application and you were just citing browser tabs as a familiar example?
Navigation tabs are fairly well established: http://developer.yahoo.com/ypatterns/pattern.php?pattern=navigationtabs; and http://welie.com/patterns/showPattern.php?patternID=tabbing. To walk through the scenario you described, it sounds like you're mixing up navigating with task completion. Navigation accepts that a person will browse in a manner they decide, allowing them the ability to move up down and side to side in the site structure. Task completion is typically a focused, if not restricted, sequence of actions. If someone has to complete a task in this application, then don't mix it up with tabs meant to navigate. More specifically, you mention that they might complete a task in Tab-*n*, and in order to kick off a new task, they would have to return to Tab-1. The design should be well-architected so that the task hierarchy is clear. That is, the person understands the sequence of actions and how to move through that sequence. For example, clearly labeling, ordering, and presenting the steps in a task sequence like this http://ui-patterns.com/pattern/StepsLeft. Whether you choose to organize the tasks in tabs or to put them each in a separate 'page', it should be obvious to people (outside your project team) what it takes to complete the task, and how to move from one action to the next. If you drop them off at the end and they don't see how to start the next step, then you can expect low success rates. I hope this helps. On Fri, Aug 8, 2008 at 11:22 AM, Jennifer Cummings < [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Sorry, I should have noted: yes, we have a captive audience. This is > for internal employees to whom we provide the browser. > > > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . > Posted from the new ixda.org > http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=31904 > > > ________________________________________________________________ > 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 > -- Jay A. Morgan ________________________________________________________________ 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
