Here’s a thought maybe even a provoking one, as everyone seems to have reached at the conclusion that wizards in software are good. The general and agreed upon argument goes; that a wizard shields the underlying complexity of the software. That’s fine. However, the question quickly becomes for whom or why do you need to shield this complexity. For the user, mostly the casual user, as the assumption in software design for business applications seems to be that the non-casual user knows how to operate complex screens or at least have read the manual.
But why would a casual user need to use the same software as a power user? Or at least why and where do a power and casual user share the same area and functionality of a certain application? Wouldn’t it make more sense to build different screens targeting the primary user – being either casual or power user? Rather than trying to cram everything into one screen? And then after cramming everything into one screen for the power user, develop wizards to help the casual user?
I can think of one specific area where wizards do make sense mostly concerning installation, configuration and setup of applications. But that’s not really shielding functionality, that’s more semi-intelligent template generation.
It should trigger a warning if you’ve either designing an application and you’re thinking: “maybe we should implement a wizard to make it easier”. Warning, you’re heading down the path of providing an uninspiring solution to a bad design. Don’t go there. Stop and rethink your design and redesign so the application targets the primary audience and provide the level of functionality needed for that audience. Strip away unnecessary functionality, and stuff it somewhere else, and let the power user go seek it out if needed.
#programming #wizards
Claus Jepsen 