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This is a very interesting discussion, as I haven't considered how to do a
better job than is currently being done. I do know I get frustrated with
trying to do too much with my smart phone, but I haven't had a
sophisticated one for very long.
A couple of small component ideas based on the discussion:
-Some vendors do a superb job with putting type & info onto the small
screen. I don't know enough to compare them, but Apple has impressed me, so
I know it can be done.
-Love tables for info, but even on a computer or piece of paper, there are
limits to how much info you can put on them or absorb. So then we do some
type of judgement call. If necessary we can offer links or books of
background or expansion. Thinking of it makes me marvel at the whole idea
behind Excel and similar types of programs.
Hate the airline apps & way to choose flight, but there's something to the
idea. Maybe give people a list of selectors as to what's most important: A,
B, C, ..., with a max number of choices, then present info sorted that way
and let them scroll sideways. Then they can select from that list to
present info more compactly? Like your photo app lets you select?
One could also present info similar to what was selected, like a shopping
site, when you select one item and it offers other choices like that. Or a
list where you select a bunch of items to compare.
-I beg to differ with whoever slighted UX/UI practitioners as dumbing down
info. Ideally that's not any more what they do than what a tech writer
does. In fact, I'd hazard that this discussion touches on a real synergy
between what tech writing and UI/UX could be/does at its best.
Kathleen
On Thu, Jun 23, 2016 at 3:09 AM, Chris Despopoulos <
despopoulos_chriss -at- yahoo -dot- com> wrote:
> In the old world tables are very useful. There's no better way in print
> to show a matrix of options, or present a comparison in one glance. For
> desktop online docs that translates really well... You can even use
> javascript to turn the table into something a bit more dynamic -- say,
> enable sorting of rows, for example. But tables require a lot of real
> estate.
>
> What do you do for phones?
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Kathleen MacDowell
kathleen -dot- eamd -at- gmail -dot- com
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