Adam,
I do a lot of work with forms in industry—data logging, reporting,
etc. I tend to have software save values as they are entered, rather
than saving by page or document. This insures that data isn't lost due
to dropped connectivity, hardware/software failure, or any kind of
browser redirect. Data in a field is saved on loss of focus.
Checkboxes, radio buttons, and menus save selections on change.
In this type of work, there is very rarely, if ever, a case in which
the user wants to do the equivalent of "closing without saving". These
applications typically have "undo" features, which cover the case of
accidentally changing a value. During field trials of one such
application, I believe one or two users specifically asked when or how
the data was being saved. There has been no confusion about the lack
of a Save button and no requests for the application to work
differently.
On the other side, I work on document-centric software. In these
cases, I follow the explicit save model, as the user is opening a
document, making changes, and closing it. There is more likely to be a
case that they would want to discard changes made. A document contains
multiple pages (typically navigated by tabs), and the Save buttons
saves the entire document. Values are stored temporarily to allow
navigation between the pages, of course, but not committed until the
explicit save. An alert will remind the user to save if s/he tries to
close or navigate away from the document.
Best,
Jack
On Oct 16, 2008, at 11:17 PM, Adam Connor wrote:
For example if I'm on one form, complete it and click a "next"
button to move to the next form, should the data I entered be
automatically saved. Most seem to expect it to be? What about the
situation where I complete one form and then jump to another in the
process, not the previous or next one, but say 5 steps away? Should
my data be automatically saved?
And how about if I want to stop filing in the forms now, because I
don't have any more data to provide right now and need to go gather
it so I can fill it in later. Should there be an explicit "save"
button for that situation? And if so, doesn't having a save button
for that situation raise some consistency issues with the fact that
the other two situations don't require the user to manually initiate
a save?
Jack L. Moffett
Interaction Designer
inmedius
412.459.0310 x219
http://www.inmedius.com
If there's anything more annoying
than a machine that won't do what you want,
it's a machine that won't do what you want
and has been programmed to behave
as though it likes you.
- Don Norman
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