Navigate from window to window
All but the most simple applications will be broken down into many windows. Just moving from one window to another is trivial, as it can be accomplished by push buttons, clickable icons, or pull down menus. But formulating an overall approach for navigation throughout an application that prevents users from getting confused or lost is a much more complicated process. This requires thinking of the windows as parts of an integrated whole, not as stand-alone dialog boxes.
The first step in establishing a navigation scheme is to plan out exactly what windows will be needed and what each one will contain. Once these have been established the navigation "paths" from one window to another can be plotted. The better organized the windows are the easier the task of navigation will be.
The selection of windows and the navigation paths should map back to the conceptual data model that was generated as part of the conceptual design phase. The users think of their application in terms of the conceptual data entities, either consciously or subconsciously, and they will have an innate familiarity with the application if the windows are organized in this way.
Each window should correspond to a conceptual data entity, and the navigation from one window to the next should at the very least follow the path of relationships from one entity to the next. Caution should be used in having multiple conceptual data entities in one window or one conceptual entity spread over multiple windows as this can be cumbersome and confusing to the users. If a conceptual data entity is too complex to be represented in one window or if a window becomes cluttered or busy, consider having an expanding window or having multiple panels in the same window.
There should be one particular window that functions as the users' "home," which would be the first window they see when entering the system (after the splash screen, if there is one). The users will quickly grow accustomed to this window and will feel that it is a comfortable and safe place. Every panel in the application should provide a permanent object that is a direct path back to the home window. In this way the users will always have a "way out" if they get lost or confused.
The home window should correspond to the dominant logical data entity (i.e. the entity to which the greatest number of other entities relate), or to the entity that marks the genesis of the workflow. If no entity meets these criteria, an entity should be arbitrarily chosen. In any event, the home window should be a productive dialog, not just a list of directory buttons.
In addition to the home window, there should be a number of "core" windows that correspond to the entities that are related directly to the home entity. There should always be a direct path from any one core window to any other, and, of course, a direct path back to the home window. The home window and core windows should constitute the bulk of the application.
Each core window could then have a number of "satellite" windows, which correspond to conceptual data entities that have relationships with the core entity. There should be a direct path from any core window to each of its satellite windows.
One overriding principle is that whatever path is provided from one window to the next, there should ALWAYS be a direct way to get back to the window that the users just came from. In this way if users poke around and explore, they should be able to backtrack as if they'd left a trail of crumbs.
It is also good to provide redundancy in navigation. It could be that the users could get from point A to point B by clicking on a push button on the screen or by selecting an entry from a pull-down menu, or even by additional means. It is important to strike a good balance, however. Too many choices or irrelevant choices can cause confusion. A variety of choices can allow different users with different tastes and preferences to navigate as they like.
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