A PowerPoint Interface Convention
When I first talked of my search for an interface convention, I mentioned that my original plan was to mimic Microsoft PowerPoint. I then dismissed this approach as being too limited. However, Joel Spolsky’s Consistency and Other Hobgoblins essay has made me reconsider this interface.
Here is the interface I came up with about 18 months ago, when I first started thinking about webpage editors.
To state the obvious, the benefit of this interface is that it is consistent with the Microsoft Office software with which most users are familiar. By adopting this interface convention I could, in one move, provide Charlie with an interface that behaves exactly how the user thinks it would, which is the definition of a good interface. Still, I do have concerns about this design.
First, a webpage is presented within a separate browser application. That means that the browser application will have its own set of drop down menus and toolbars, and then there’d be another set of drop down menus and toolbars within the child web application. This does not occur in any other desktop software, so such an interface convention is not as immediately familiar and externally consistent as it may first seem.
Second, I am not sure how far you could take this interface convention in a web application. The menu above includes an Insert Page option. What happens when the user clicks on it? The plan at the time was to present a set of page templates (such as Weblog Page, Article Page, Photo Gallery Page, and so on), exactly as PowerPoint does when you click on Insert Slide. That may be okay, but where in the site map would the new page appear? How would you give it a URL address? Can this interface support the concept of draft pages? While mimicking Microsoft PowerPoint provides the benefit of familiarity, I wonder whether it does so at the cost of simplicity and flexibility.
Still, there it is, another possible interface convention.
by Alister Jones | Next up: A Word from Joel - Part 3 →
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