exercises

18. modelling rich interaction

EXERCISE 18.1

Can you suggest any improvements to the screen button feedback problem discussed in Section 18.2 that would distinguish at the interface between the two cases of hitting or missing the button? Is there any guarantee with your solution that the user will notice the distinction?

answer

One fix for the button feedback problem would be to have the function attached to the button be invoked when the mousekey is pressed down, rather than up. But this solution would not work for functions invoked on pop-up menus. Another possibility is to have some visible or audible feedback from the button associated with the invocation of the function on the mousekey release. This solution does not guarantee that the user notices the added effect unless their attention is focused on the added visual or aural effect. Another possibility, subtly different from the last suggestion, would be to associate the addition verbal or aural cue to the error case, when the mouse accidentally slips off the button between the press and release of the mousekey.

Other exercises in this chapter

ex.18.1 (ans), ex.18.2 (tut), ex.18.3 (tut), ex.18.4 (tut)

all exercises for this chapter