[instaviz-users] Fwd: Documentation???

[Richard Stahlhut]

How about this:

create very simple documentation in the form of several graphs -- one  
per major topic.  Since you can annotate edges, this should be do- 
able, even if a bit clunky for this purpose.

they are just graphs, so they are listed as graphs at the start up  
screen, like any other graph, and can be deleted whenever the user  
doesn't need them anymore.  of course, they can also accidentally  
change them too.    So not the optimal solution, maybe, but you could  
implement it fast.

the open source mind mapping tool FreeMind does something like this.

- Rick


On Dec 15, 2008, at 8:36 PM, Daniel Sachs wrote:

>
> On Dec 15, 2008, at 6:47 PM, Glen Low wrote:
>>
>> I wanted to make Instaviz a discoverable app. Both my 9 year-old
>> daughter and my wife picked it up within minutes and without too
>> much training. Obviously it needs documentation but I suspect it's
>> primarily for the harder-to-discover functions like delete and
>> export and/or to get past the initial shock of a blank screen --
>> then comes the question of how to insert this help without
>> complicating the interface.
>>
>
> I have an idea... there's room for a ? icon on the right side of the
> title bar when you're editing a graph.
>
> If selected, you could put up a page in the form:
>
> How do I?
>
> * Draw a shape
> * Delete a shape
> * ... other things that people may not know how to do
>
> Why...
> * Does my graph layout change when I connect nodes?
> * Do my diamonds always come out as squares?
> * ... other things that may potentially confuse people
>
> When the buttons are tapped, put up a page that has a little FAQ-type
> entry on how to do it / why Instaviz works in that way.
>
> There's room for a ? icon in the Settings pages too, where you could
> put a little blurb about what the various settings actually mean.
>
> I think that having a ? icon that leads to a page of frequently asked
> questions is both unobtrusive and absolutely discoverable.
>
> dan
>
> -- 
> | Daniel Grobe Sachs      <dgsachs at nekito.net> |
> | The time is gone, the song is over, thought  |
> |        I'd something more to say...          |
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> instaviz-users mailing list
> instaviz-users at pixelglow.com
> http://lists.pixelglow.com/listinfo/instaviz-users