Sliding Button & Window Specification
Author: Josef Pavlicek
$Revision: 1.10 $
$Date: 2007/03/08 11:07:34 $
$Id: SlidingButtonSpecification.html,v 1.10 2007/03/08 11:07:34 josefpavlicek Exp $ (see full CVS history)
Content
- Requirements
- New NetBeans behavior and design
- The system should support these Use Cases
- NetBeans design
- Improving of the sliding window appearance
- Sliding, docking and dragging effect examples
- NetBeans draggers and L&F appearance
Requirements
Motivation
From various Usability Studies and from some blogs we received that more of our users are not able to understand the sliding buttons. We should focus our force for redesign these buttons and behavior of the system after click on them.
Goal
Our goal is redesign buttons and the system behavior according to the users requirements.
NetBeans behavior and design
NetBeans behavior
The system has to give the user information what he does. The system has to show, where is the window located, after the user action. This information has to be easy to understand and "elegant". In this case of slides and hidden window is the best way how to tell the user, what the system does, is show him/her:
- minimalization or expansion of the docked or slides window. This minimalization and expansion shouldn't take more than 1,5 second.
- shadow (transparent shadow is the best solution) by each sliding window
The system should support these Use Cases:
- Auto Hide button Use Case (Figure 7 )
- Auto Showing window Use Case (Figure 7 )
- Showing hidden window Use Case (Figure 7 )
- Dragging of windows (Figure 8)
New NetBeans design
Improving of the sliding window appearance
If the user uses sliding window in NetBeans now, the system shows him sliding window with appearance -Figure 1 .
This window doesn't have:
- sliding effect
- dragger edge
- shadow
Figure 1. Current appearance of the sliding window
To add dragger edge, shadow (transparent shadow if is it possible thanks performance load), sliding effect (Figure 2, 7, 8) is improving in comparison with the current situation.
Figure 2. Model of assembling the new sliding window and its appearance
Figure 3. New appearance of sliding window
The NetBeans IDE should show sliding and expanding effect. For the purpose of this effect the system has to use special windows. These windows have only frame with shadow and white body and header - figure 4,5.
Figure 4. Window for expanding and hiding the left or right column (project, files, etc.)
Figure 5. Window for expanding and hiding the down windows in the tabs(Output etc.)
Figure 6 . Colors of the windows
Sliding, docking and dragging effect examples
These examples show how the NetBeans IDE can support the written Use Cases. These models are running on the never ending loop.
- Sliding effect
- The system shows expanding and minimalization effect. This effect shows the user, where is the window located after his/her click.
- Docking effect
- The system shows minimalization effect. This effect shows the user, where is the window located after his/her click.
- Dragging effect
- The system shows the user new size of his/her window after his/her dragging.
Figure 7. Minimalization of the window on the edge bar
Figure 8. Docking the sliding window - example
NetBeans draggers and L&F appearance
Windows XP
Now NetBeans doesn't have draggers between windows edges Figure 9.
Figure 9. The current appearance of NetBeans IDE
The improve in comparison with the current appearance is that the user is able to better understand, that the edges between the windows are resizable Figure 10. For draggers we will use default size. All draggers are centralized on the edge.
Figure 10. Draggers in NetBeans IDE - draggers have shape of rectangle with five circles
NOTICE: All draggers placed in NetBeans should be taking from operation system. Gray scales are only for information or if the particular operation system doesn't have system draggers.
Figure 11. Appearance of the dragger on Windows XP and gray scale settings.
Windows classics
Figure 12. Appearance of the draggers in Windows classics - the draggers have shape of rectangle
Figure 13. Appearance of the dragger and gray scale settings
MAC OS
Figure 14. Appearance of draggers in the MAC OS- draggers have a shape of circle
Figure 15. Appearance of the dragger and gray scale settings
Solaris OS and Metal windows L&F
Figure 16. Appearance of draggers in Solaris draggers have shape of rectangle with three circles
Figure 17. Appearance of draggers in Metal windows- draggers have shape of rectangle with three circles
Figure 18. Appearance of the dragger and gray scale settings