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Subject:Re: Indexing gui elements From:k k <turnleftatnowhere -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 18 Dec 2003 09:54:39 -0800 (PST)
Even people who want info on a specific GUI element
can see easily which dialog box it's on, and they'll
find a dialog-level index a lot easier to use. If a
user wants information on a paricular button on a
particular dialog box, provide a help page that covers
the dialog box. Put information about the dialog box
elements on that help page, and put just the dialog
box in the index.
Trying to index every last GUI element could all too
easily wind up being a full-time job in itself and
drastically extend the time need to complete the
project. It could also result in an index that is too
hard to use. If you confont users with an index that's
too long and has too many levels, a lot of them will
get frustrated and give up on it rather than wade
through the entries to find the one they want.
In most cases you couldn't really index every GUI
element unless every element last has a genuinely
unique label, or unless you relate the element to its
parent element. If you have an option button labeled
"Type" on two dialog boxes, you have to indicate in
the index which diaglog box is relevant:
Type button
On X dialog
On Y dialog
This of course adds to the problem of the index
structure becoming complex enough to impair usability.
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