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List:       koffice
Subject:    Re: KOffice Web Site Map
From:       Jeremy Blosser <jblosser () firinn ! org>
Date:       1999-07-28 7:47:11
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Joel Sing [jsing@bssc.edu.au] wrote:
> >http://www.interped.su.se/koffice1/info_map1.htm
> 
> Also, the right
> hand side (text) does not wrap in my browser (netscape) and gives me a
> scroll bar to the right. 

Ditto... don't have time to track down right now what's causing it.  Prolly
too many nested 100%'s or nowraps or something.

> >By the way... anyone ever had a look at http://www.interped.su.se/koffice/
> >as it is? hehehe (HINT: the 'close' button jumps to a higher level)
> This is a nice, clean approach. The biggest problem I found was getting
> used to its operation. What about drop down menus? Or will this use to much
> screen real estate? Just a thought!

The main problem with a dynamic design like this is that, while it's
clever, people don't really want clever when they have a slow connection
and are after information.  This requires 3 or 4 clicks to get at the info,
and each click means a new image has to be downloaded.  I think the idea is
cool, but I don't think it's very functional.

Well, I should say the /perception/ isn't very functional.  A more
traditional design requires each click to load an entire new page instead
of just one image, and may require more clicks to get to the actual info.
But I'd argue such a traditional page is not the best design either; most
info should be listed with as a direct a path as possible.  And while
you're loading the new page, even if it's not what you want yourself it
should theoretically be what /most/ people want by clicking that link, thus
making the most important things accessible with one click.

There are DHTML models to handle support for this kind of idea and still
save screen estate and time, but they aren't widely implemented yet.

-- 
Jeremy Blosser   |   jblosser@firinn.org   |   http://jblosser.firinn.org/
-----------------+-------------------------+------------------------------
"Would you fight to the death, for that which you love?
                   In a cause surely hopeless ...for that which you love?"
                                             -- D. McKiernan, _Dragondoom_

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