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Re: buttons v bookmarks: which is more user friendly
Subject:Re: buttons v bookmarks: which is more user friendly From:holmegm -at- attbi -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 10 Jun 2003 19:00:22 +0000
Rick Henkel (frameuser -at- hotmail -dot- com) wrote:
>When I took over our PDF Documentation Library, I added four buttons at the
>top of every page.
--snip--
>As our library has continued to grow, this process has become more and more
>tedious.
--snip--
>I created some pdfmark code that added bookmarks for these items, as well as
>about a dozen additional items. This process would be done automatically
>every time we create a PDF file. Therefore, we wouldn't have to do all the
>manual labor that the buttons required.
>
>When I showed this idea to some of my co-workers, they were afraid that
>users would complain that we took something away from them. All the
>information is still there (and more), but users might not be able to find
>it because it's no longer a visible button at the top of every page.
>
>Is that a valid concern? Are users more inclined to notice/use a button than
>they are a bookmark?
The concerns are valid - buttons right on the page are more noticible, and
any change has an associated cost. But the concerns need to be weighed against
the savings in time, efficiency, and accuracy to be gained by automating the
process.
Is this an intranet, or the internet? Do the users have a strong stake in
learning a new (to them) interface, or would they just say to heck with it?
How technical (or perhaps experienced with PDFs) are they - are they used to
using PDF bookmarks in other contexts?
How much time would it take to learn or figure out how to add the buttons
automatically, vs. bookmarks? Then you could have your cake and eat it too.
---
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