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==Modeless Design== | ==Modeless Design== | ||
[[File:AppleCapsLock_PD.jpg|thumb| | [[File:AppleCapsLock_PD.jpg|thumb|200px|Caps Lock Key. The little light offers feedback, but the users attention is drawn to the screen]] | ||
Everybody knows about the problems "modes" create though you may never heard about this term. But for sure you already had trouble with the Caps-Lock-Key that changes the rESULT oF tYPING. If you push the Caps-Lock you enter a mode. This means that: | Everybody knows about the problems "modes" create though you may never heard about this term. But for sure you already had trouble with the Caps-Lock-Key that changes the rESULT oF tYPING. If you push the Caps-Lock you enter a mode. This means that: | ||
* The same actions cause different results now | * The same actions cause different results now | ||
* You attention is not necessary directed on the status of the mode, which means it can be triggered and used unnoticed. | * You attention is not necessary directed on the status of the mode, which means it can be triggered and used unnoticed. | ||
[[File:OpenOffice_Modal_openSource.png|200px|thumb|A modal dialogue window. It blocks the interaction with the rest of the application. The toolbars (visible as well) are in contrast non-modal]] | |||
If an application behaves strange and you actions have results you did not expect it is likely that you entered a mode. If you are lucky you notice it and know how to get out of this. If not - which is far more often the case - you mess up your work, loose data and think the application in corrupt.It is but not its functionality but the design! | If an application behaves strange and you actions have results you did not expect it is likely that you entered a mode. If you are lucky you notice it and know how to get out of this. If not - which is far more often the case - you mess up your work, loose data and think the application in corrupt.It is but not its functionality but the design! | ||
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Very often you encounter modal dialogs. They pop up in front of your main window and block the interaction with it. So clicking the main window will have a different result that usual and it is: nothing. This is especially bad if the modal window just is a notification that something worked or not. | Very often you encounter modal dialogs. They pop up in front of your main window and block the interaction with it. So clicking the main window will have a different result that usual and it is: nothing. This is especially bad if the modal window just is a notification that something worked or not. | ||
Modal notifications can be turned into non-modal ones as a bar that slides into the window from above ("infobar"), Modal windows for editing (like the depicted font-dialouge above) can be often realized as sidebars. | |||
Modes should be avoided. E.g. introducing a navigation mode- and editing mode will just confuse your users. Make the different functions available without the demand to enter a mode. If there is no way to avoid a mode, indicate clearly and visible that the mode is triggered and how the user can escape the mode. | Modes should be avoided. E.g. introducing a navigation mode- and editing mode will just confuse your users. Make the different functions available without the demand to enter a mode. If there is no way to avoid a mode, indicate clearly and visible that the mode is triggered and how the user can escape the mode. | ||