[TYPO3-hci] My 4.1 proposal - again

[Christopher Torgalson]

Kasper Skårhøj wrote:
>> Should a browser-based app behave like a desktop-based app? I think that
>> onclick menus or double click behaviour is *not* what people expect in
>> web apps.
> 
> This _is_ a very good question! Eventually usability tests will show 
> this, but there is no doubt that someone has an educated opinion 
> somewhere based on experience. Anyone?
> 
> - kasper
> 
> 
>>
>> If we try to mimic the behaviour of Windows/MacOS whatever in a browser
>> we end up with endless limits and insane javascript usage (see again
>> Lasse's post). IMO it's worth copying UI from other web apps instead of
>> Desktops and Office tools because that's what TYPO3 is: a web app.

This opinion is untested, except in the sense that it's grown out of 
watching people and clients (who are also people ;-) use website nav 
systems in the past, but I have to disagree /slightly/ with Michael.

The usual problem with flyout-type menu systems on the web is that users 
can't use them because they behave /differently/ from OS-based menus. 
Users of any modern OS are used to menus that behave quite similarly to 
one another--particularly in that the top levels can /stay open/ even if 
the mouse pointer moves away from the menu altogether.

The usual problem I've seen with people using flyout nav systems on the 
web is that they appear too easily--moving a mouse over a menu bar 
should not necessarily activate the menu--and that they disappear when 
the mouse moves away, even momentarily. This is why, in spite of the 
fact that I prefer to use CSS almost everywhere possible, I wouldn't 
suggest we use 'suckerfish' menus for this purpose, and that I suggest 
that the top-level of such a menu be activated by a single click.

+++1 for the user testing idea and the idea of taking the specific needs 
of web-app users into consideration though.

-CT