There are many core issues arising here and I can see this discussion expanding into a number of key threads. I’ll just touch base on a few points and let’s see where we go from there.
Tabbed Interfaces
I don't think that the wish for top-of-the-page tabs in the subject guides was motivated by any particular reason other than they are a popular navigational feature that provides a compact way of moving between related pages easily
It sounds like we’re talking about basic familiarity and comfort zones for the end users. What triggers my spider sense here is the phrase ‘moving between related pages easily’. Off the top of my head that raises questions about:
user tasks (what motivates their moving between pages?)
information architecture (how are the pages related?)
awareness context (what is the typical user’s mindset and value system?)
There could be other similar questions to explore.
Usability Studies and Design Solutions
I am not aware of any empirical research on whether users find tabs to be more effective than vertical menus
With regard to empirical evidence, I think it makes most sense to do usability testing for a well targeted context. Here’s my take on it: Coming up with user interface design solutions is like a hitting a baseball. The usability challenge is like the pitch. Each pitch is unique and must be assessed by the batter. Each pitch has to be played for what it is.
Solutions for usability problems need to take in as much specific context as is reasonably possible within realistic time and budget constraints. A novice might try to hit a home run for every pitch, or worse, they might use the same swing for each pitch. This is like imposing a personal solution onto a general problem. At the other extreme is a purely theoretical approach where one just studies all the balls as they fly by. At some point we have to play ball and make a design decision. Play it for what it is, with our eyes open. That preparedness comes from usability requirements gathering based on well targeted user roles.
Calling Functionality from Context
to allow a user to add a block from the page they want it to appear on by dragging it where they want it and then configuring what it does using a few simple choices would be a truly killer feature
I think adding content directly in the page represents the biggest potential usability gain - but it is also the biggest technical challenge. This amounts to allowing the user to work with a more sensible and comprehendible spatial structure. I believe that a great deal of usability gain comes from people having a comfortable sense of their work space. The space created by the Drupal admin UI is, frankly, a mess. It’s not an intentionally designed space. There’s our problem.
I recently gave a presentation at the Toronto Drupal Camp that focused on this very need. Much of the problems that I’ve seen with Drupal management UI (admin and content management) seem to come from the fact that the functionality is pushed into the user's context. This comes about because the UIs are determined abstractly through various code patterns that do little more than expose database fields in a very generic fashion. Hence, the potential for good usability dies on the spot. It’s not the developers’ “fault”. It’s just the current state of Drupal’s evolution that many people are working to transcend.
As you said Mark, I think what is really required in most end user scenarios is that the functionality should be called from the user's context. That is, pulled into the user’s context when it means something to that individual. (This leads into the meaning and significance of ‘Roles’ which I can get into another time.)
Moving Forward
Getting a real solution to this will take some time and it is something where my associates and I are hoping to contribute some solutions. Getting this kind of direct feedback from the user context is very valuable in this regard.
Which brings me to your last point about setting up a forum topic for usability requirements. I think that’s a good idea, I’ll put a post up shortly.
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Some core usability issues
There are many core issues arising here and I can see this discussion expanding into a number of key threads. I’ll just touch base on a few points and let’s see where we go from there.
Tabbed Interfaces
I don't think that the wish for top-of-the-page tabs in the subject guides was motivated by any particular reason other than they are a popular navigational feature that provides a compact way of moving between related pages easily
It sounds like we’re talking about basic familiarity and comfort zones for the end users. What triggers my spider sense here is the phrase ‘moving between related pages easily’. Off the top of my head that raises questions about:
There could be other similar questions to explore.
Usability Studies and Design Solutions
I am not aware of any empirical research on whether users find tabs to be more effective than vertical menus
With regard to empirical evidence, I think it makes most sense to do usability testing for a well targeted context. Here’s my take on it: Coming up with user interface design solutions is like a hitting a baseball. The usability challenge is like the pitch. Each pitch is unique and must be assessed by the batter. Each pitch has to be played for what it is.
Solutions for usability problems need to take in as much specific context as is reasonably possible within realistic time and budget constraints. A novice might try to hit a home run for every pitch, or worse, they might use the same swing for each pitch. This is like imposing a personal solution onto a general problem. At the other extreme is a purely theoretical approach where one just studies all the balls as they fly by. At some point we have to play ball and make a design decision. Play it for what it is, with our eyes open. That preparedness comes from usability requirements gathering based on well targeted user roles.
Calling Functionality from Context
to allow a user to add a block from the page they want it to appear on by dragging it where they want it and then configuring what it does using a few simple choices would be a truly killer feature
I think adding content directly in the page represents the biggest potential usability gain - but it is also the biggest technical challenge. This amounts to allowing the user to work with a more sensible and comprehendible spatial structure. I believe that a great deal of usability gain comes from people having a comfortable sense of their work space. The space created by the Drupal admin UI is, frankly, a mess. It’s not an intentionally designed space. There’s our problem.
I recently gave a presentation at the Toronto Drupal Camp that focused on this very need. Much of the problems that I’ve seen with Drupal management UI (admin and content management) seem to come from the fact that the functionality is pushed into the user's context. This comes about because the UIs are determined abstractly through various code patterns that do little more than expose database fields in a very generic fashion. Hence, the potential for good usability dies on the spot. It’s not the developers’ “fault”. It’s just the current state of Drupal’s evolution that many people are working to transcend.
As you said Mark, I think what is really required in most end user scenarios is that the functionality should be called from the user's context. That is, pulled into the user’s context when it means something to that individual. (This leads into the meaning and significance of ‘Roles’ which I can get into another time.)
Moving Forward
Getting a real solution to this will take some time and it is something where my associates and I are hoping to contribute some solutions. Getting this kind of direct feedback from the user context is very valuable in this regard.
Which brings me to your last point about setting up a forum topic for usability requirements. I think that’s a good idea, I’ll put a post up shortly.
Michael
Michael Baynger www.TheUserAdvocateGroup.com