Despite that wonderful, whimsical name, wizards are not really a special form of user interface, and they have only a particular range of utility. Wizards are used to perform multi-step tasks. Multiple steps of a wizard are presented as a sequence of pages. Wizards typically include the following types of pages: • Choice pages are used to gather information and allow users to make choices. • The Commit page is used to perform an action that cannot be undone by clicking Back or Cancel. • The Progress page is used to show the progress of a lengthy operation. ![]() Modern wizard design places a premium on efficiency, making the Progress page optional for shorter operations, and often dispensing with the traditional and at the beginning and end. All wizard pages have these components: • A title bar to identify the name of the wizard, with a Back button in the upper-left corner, and a Close button with optional Minimize/Maximize and Restore buttons. Note that the title bar also includes an icon to identify it on the taskbar. • A main instruction to explain the user's objective with the page. • A content area with optional text and possibly other controls. • A command area with at least one commit button to commit to the task or proceed to the next step. Although a wizard has multiple steps, these steps must all add up to a single task, from the user's point of view. This is the fundamental wizard design principle of 'one wizard, one task.' Thus in this article, a task is the basic function of a wizard (for example, the task of a setup wizard is to install a program). Sub-tasks are aspects of the larger task (for example, a sub-task of a setup wizard may be to configure the program to be installed). Finally, each wizard page is considered a step in a given sub-task or task (for example, there may be two or three steps involved in configuring the program). Note: Guidelines related to,, and are presented in separate articles. Microsoft used to advise that wizards of three pages or fewer be designed as simple wizards. Supplemental instructions, and. Because of templates used in early. ![]() Is this the right user interface? A wizard can be used for any task that requires multiple input steps. However, effective wizards have additional requirements: • Does the wizard perform a single, atomic task? Don't use interactions that aren't single tasks (a whole program should never be a wizard unless it performs a single task). Don't use wizards to combine independent tasks or largely unrelated steps. • Can the number of required questions be reduced? ![]() Are there acceptable defaults that either work well for most cases or can be adjusted as needed later? Consequently, can the number of pages be reduced? If so, try to simplify the task so that it can be presented on a single page (such as a dialog box), or eliminate the need for input completely (allowing for the task to be performed directly). • Must the required questions be provided sequentially? Are there several probable, but optional questions? If so, consider a dialog box or tabbed dialog box. Correct: The Microsoft PowerPoint Print options dialog box contains many user input options, so you could present them in a wizard. However, there is no need to provide them sequentially, so a dialog box is a better choice. Wizards are a relatively heavy form of user interface; if there is a suitable, lighter-weight solution available, use it! Design concepts Overuse of wizards Historically, wizards differed from ordinary UI in that they were designed to help users perform especially complex tasks (with steps residing in disparate locations) and often had built-in intelligence to help users succeed. ![]() Today, all UI should be designed to make tasks as simple as possible, so there is no need for a special UI just for this purpose. Yet the belief persists that wizards are a special UI—largely because they are referred to as 'wizards' (much more creative than, say, 'dialogs' and 'property windows'). Instead, it's better to consider them to be multi-step tasks and not draw special attention to that fact. ![]()
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