Tom - Glad you liked the article. In this case, it sounds like you're looking at the opposite sort of problem -- a blank canvas.
If the users know the object they're configuring well enough to really be able to grab stuff off a canvas and drop in the correct place(s), then this paradigm might work really well. It'll give a knowledgeable user a lot of freedom in how they put pieces together, which is likely to make them very happy. I'd watch out for less-knowledgeable users, though, who might have a "deer in the headlights" reaction to a big, empty canvas. Finally, I'd recommend you give some thought to how you validate the configuration as indicated by the user. Do you have enough information to be able to tell whether the thing they've constructed is a valid entry? If problems are detected, what's the interaction that communicates this to the user? Does it happen in real-time (ie, you can't drop that widget here), or do you wait until they're done to tell them that the thing they just built won't work (hint: that won't score too many points w/ users)? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=45800 ________________________________________________________________ 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
