[instaviz-users] Opionions wanted: editing label gestures for Instaviz 2.0

[Glen Low]

Hi All

Now that we're gearing up for Instaviz 2.0 and hopefully an iPad  
version as well, I need your opinions on various gestures.

Instaviz will have inline label editing i.e. you should be able to  
quickly update the label of a node or edge on the diagram without  
having to enter a distracting settings screen.

As I see it, these are the ways I can implement this:

a.	One finger, quick tap -- select the node/edge, a menu pops up with  
various options e.g. delete, color, other settings.
	One finger, quick double tap -- select the node/edge, keyboard  
appears, node/edge scrolls so that it is visible, you can now type in  
the label

b.	One finger, quick tap -- select the node/edge, a menu pops up with  
various options e.g. delete, color, other settings.
	One finger, slow tap -- select the node/edge, keyboard appears, node/ 
edge scrolls so that it is visible, you can now type in the label

c.	One finger, quick tap -- select the node/edge, keyboard appears,  
node/edge scrolls so that it is visible, you can now type in the label
	One finger, slow tap -- select the node/edge, a menu pops up with  
various options e.g. delete, color, other settings.

Some considerations

-- having the keyboard appear and disappear is distracting in itself;  
if the keyboard blocks the selected item, we at least have to scroll  
to make it visible.
-- slow taps are not very prevalent in the iPhone interface, also  
might slow down rapid creation of items
-- double taps usually mean zoom in/out in the iPhone interface
-- think of the typical use case: when quickly creating nodes and  
edges, minimize the taps to get the labels up

Some approaches I wasn't happy with

-- on-screen widget for editing text. Clutters the user interface, and  
may be difficult to tap if all nodes/edges have this widget.
-- c. but with one finger, quick double tap. Much easier to  
discriminate quick/slow tap vs. single/double tap, essentially double  
tap has to be similar to single tap but with extra features.
-- having inline editing just one of the menu options in a. or b. User  
would have to tap object then move finger to the bottom bar, slowing  
the action down
-- automatically popping up the keyboard when you create a node (or  
edge?). May make label entry faster but keyboard appearance may get in  
the way of continuous sketching.

Would really appreciate your opinions since you'll have worked and  
struggled with Instaviz 1.x, and you can bring your experience with  
other apps to bear too.




Cheers, Glen Low


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