GUI Design
Fourth Meeting, Wed. July 8, 1998, at 1:00 PM
Main Functions
- Layout
- Viewport
- location
Decision: top and center
- size
Decision:Window and Image height fixed at 400
pixesl
Window and Image width 600 pixels or greater
- Dashboard
- layout
- Inventory "tiles" arranged horizontally, below Viewport
- Instrument "tiles" arranged vertically, to the right of the
Viewport
- Status windows, with a tab selector, to the left of the
Viewport
- Static Buttons for Help, Score, in the lower right-hand
corner
- function
- Click vs. Double-Click on Tiles
- Click vs. Double-Click in Viewport
- Navigation
- Local zooming (achieved with scaling)?
- Global (aerial view)
- support for beaming
- using a personal map
- using a global map
- back to the spaceship
Decision: we must support this, we claim it, in proposals, as one of the
uniquely "virtual" functions
- partial beaming (i.e back to a previously visited room), this is
probably implied by the previous point
- Decision: There will be a map object
- the map will serve as a teleporter
- players will get the map from Crazy Eddie
- the map will appear in your inventory, and it will WEIGH
MERE OUNCES
- players will double-click on the map to get a full-screen version
- the full screen map will either slide up over the viewport,
or will appear in it's own window, depending on user feedback
- the map is totally unlabeled at first
- as players visit different places they will become labeled
on the map
- the map LABELS will be clickable, which will teleport a
player to that location
- thus, a player will only be able to teleport to places they
have already explored on foot
- the map will display other connected players (as little itty
bitty pellets or other such icons) -- To preserve the
navigational consistency, clicking on little itty bitty pellets
should NOT teleport a player to a location unless they've
already explored there on foot
- the map object will support
selective operations: for example, only teleporting a player if
they've reached a certain graduation level, or only teleporting
a player if they are carrying less that N pounds of equipment
(as per the decisions of the Rules Committee).
- Additional DecisionThere will be a "topographical"
option which will allow users to see an altitude overlay
- Roomal
- clicking (single vs double)
- arrow keys
- onscreen direction buttons
- Communication
- communicator device (@page in LambdaMOO)
- text balloons
- scrolling text window
- mouse-over status
- note windows (ala the Retailing Game)
- Operations
- Experiments
- Choosing a "weapon"
- others
- Customization
- what to allow
- how to save
- Error Messages
- Notebook Function
- Online Workbook
Context Setting
- There are no right answers in GUI design -- only tradeoffs that are
better or worse -- we must balance aesthetics vs. playability vs.
authenticity
- There is nothing more emotional than User Interface Design
- GUI design is a group process, and ultimately depends on user feedback
- We now have an initial prototype, and we're about to design a second.
We must respect the work of the previous designers (John Bauer, pretty
much single-handedly)
- The overriding principle is "design to function" -- first decide the
functions to support and then work them together.
- A wise saying (made up by me): We move a ton to save users an ounce of
effort
Major Topics
Interface Conventions
Evaluation Plans