[instaviz-users] Opinions wanted: sketching vs scrolling

[Glen Low]

All

On 12/11/2008, at 2:17 PM, Ryan Schmidt wrote:

> On Nov 11, 2008, at 22:53, Brandon Fosdick wrote:
>
>> Beau Giles wrote:
>>
>>> Or a quick 'scribble' over the node to delete it. :)
>>
>>
>> Didn't the drawing app in the Newton use scribble for delete?
>
> Yes, and I've been trying to scribble-delete nodes, and it just keeps
> making more of them! :)

It's great to see a lively debate on the merits of scribble-delete.

I had a couple of the early Newtons and used to lug them around when  
carrying a PDA was a sure sign of nerdhood. Even had one on my  
honeymoon which, um, accidentally got a knee in the screen by my  
beloved. One of the inspirations behind Instaviz was obviously the  
shape drawing mode of the Newtons. With Instaviz I wanted to get close  
to that feeling of magic, drawings that automatically straightened  
themselves out, and make a program that could seamlessly be a part of  
the way you thought or brainstormed or communicated to others. (One of  
the things that bugged me about most mind-mapping etc. software was  
how "seamful" they were, constantly asking you questions about what  
you wanted in this node or that.)

OK, now about scribble deletes.

I briefly toyed with the idea. Doing some research via the Google, I  
found that scribble or zig zag deletes aren't that common everywhere,  
e.g. I think it means something else with Firefox gestures. The other  
thing is, everything else you sketch in Instaviz produces an object,  
whereas the scribble delete would delete an object. This little  
inconsistency leads to a more complicated mental map of functions. Not  
to mention the frustration when you try to delete something and  
Instaviz creates a triangle instead, or when you try to change the  
node to another shape and it gets deleted. So while the scribble  
delete would be a cute node to Newton history, I'll pass on this one.

That being said, there's not a lot of UI precedent behind delete  
gestures on the iPhone -- there is the swipe to the right but that  
would interact badly with scrolling. Most of the direct manipulation  
metaphors common on the iPhone won't work nicely in Instaviz e.g. I  
can't imagine navigating through 10-20 little delete icons overlaid  
over complex graphic content (which cross belongs to which node??).  
I'm loathe to pop up dialogs or tool bar items that have to be tiny  
icons in order to maximize space for the actual content, especially  
when the icons are not common themselves. So I've decided, for now at  
least, to use the shake as the delete gesture.

So select the node or edge and pretend it's like an Etch-a-Sketch, and  
poof the node or edge is gone. Coming to an Instaviz near you. (More  
specifically, either 0.1.3 or 0.2 depending on whether I can get label  
editing figured out.)




Cheers, Glen Low


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