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Sun Web Application Guidelines - Version 4.0

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5 Top-Level Navigation > 5.5 Common Tasks Page > 5.5.3 Action-Based Tasks

5.5.3 Action-Based Tasks

Action-based tasks perform actions that can alter the state of the system. The required interactions can take place in a pop-up window or an inline wizard.

Examples:

Start a Server
Deploy an Application
Migrate a NodeScan System for Viruses (note distinction with below)
Adjust Virus Scanning Parameters (note distinction with above)
Reset All Open Alarms
Adjust Thresholds of a Disk Drive
Create Foobar

Required

R1 For action-based tasks, a wizard or confirmation is required. Immediate execution of the action is not allowed. See 5.5R7.

R2 When the wizard completes or the confirmation message is shown, include an acknowledgement that the action was executed inside a results step or confirmation dialog. Feedback should include confirmation that the task was successfully completed, sufficient information about the object(s) affected, and the impact on the system (not just "<action name> done"). The user will then be navigated to the specific place in the application where the change was made. If an action does not succeed, a message stating that the action did not succeed should be included in the results step.

Following is a list of sample tasks and suggestions for resulting information or forms that might be displayed to the user. In each case, the feedback is displayed in either a pop-up or wizard as described below for each type of task.

Common Tasks and Feedback Examples

Task	Feedback Suggestions
Create Object	Give the object's new unique ID, initial default values of key properties, available new capacity, storage location.
Create File	Provide the pathname, device [drive] or mount point, and machine name on which the file was created.
Delete Object	Describe the amount of freed-up resources, any dangling references, and capacity of remaining objects.
Move	Describe the prior and current (new) location, diminished/increased capacity at the old location and increased/diminished capacity at the new location.
Edit Properties	Describe the effect of the new property settings (if there is anything meaningful to say) and when the new properties will take effect; i.e., immediately or upon next restart.
Create Additional Network Route	Describe the additional and new total throughput that should be expected on the route.

R3 For button labels, use action verbs to describe the task to be performed. For example, "Create Storage Volume."

Note: This guideline is intentionally different from the guidelines for action buttons on object-oriented (OO) pages (for example, "New Storage Volume").
R4 If the OO UI includes a wizard to perform a task, and there is a similar common task wizard that needs context, follow these guidelines:
- The middle steps of the two wizards should be similar or identical (exception per R5 below). Identical steps should have identical or similar titles. The common task wizard generally would require additional steps at its beginning to solicit context from the user. Per R2 above, the common task wizard may have additional steps at the end to acknowledge the results (not needed with an OO page). Naturally, the steps are numbered differently in the two wizards. No attempt should be made to have the steps numbered similarly. Users are not going to memorize step numbers -- they will remember step contents and titles.
- The common task wizard should NOT invoke the OO UI's actual wizard, either in sequence or as a sub-wizard (wizard steps should be reused).
R5 The first steps to appear on the action-based task wizard should be optimized for the task at hand, not to repeat the user experience offered in the OO UI. For example, do not show the same drill-down tables shown in the OO UI. To optimize the user experience specify recognizable objects such as a unique name or a location in a hierarchy. Generally an OO UI is rich in data presentation functionality (sorting, filtering, and drill-down) to support many different use cases. With a wizard, the task is predetermined and more specific.
R6 For search within a task wizard, place only the search fields on the page, not in a results table. This search might have one field or several depending on the application needs. When the user clicks the Next button, display the search results on the next wizard step. Above the results table, repeat the search field(s) and place a Search Again button to the right of or below them. The user can then search again on that same page, or alternatively click the Previous button to re-enter the search criteria on the previous step in the wizard sequence.

Note: In the context of the task wizard described above the button label is Search Again (not just Search).

5.5.3.1 Action-Based Tasks: Flow Diagrams

Click on the links in the table below to jump to flow diagrams with more details about the interactions that take place when the user clicks on a common task.

One possibility is that there is only one object, and no further selection is needed. This may be true for a log file, or a preferences page, for example.

Action-Based
Task Flow Diagram

Description

5.5.3.1.1 Updating
Global Settings

When the user's action effects global settings or specific objects or places in the application, allow the user to carry out the task in the appropriate way based on the requirements of the task.

The task may either require:

One place and one page (or less) of additional information (user confirmation only or one page of inputs only) or
More than one page of user information

Note: This is the only time when at the end of the task, the user is not taken to another page in the interface.

A second possibility is where there are multiple available objects, and the user will want to update one or more of them. The flow for such situations depends on how many objects the user will have to look through to find the object they want.

Action-Based Task Flow Diagram	Description
5.5.3.1.2 Updating One or More Instances From Among Up to 25 Objects	When the user wants to perform an action on multiple objects the objects to act on must be selected first. The items are listed and the user chooses one. The following methods can be used: List items in a table with selection radio buttons. Include additional columns of attributes for identification purposes if they are useful. Use a list box with at least 4 visible rows plus vertical scrollbars. Note: Multiple objects could also be selected using a check box column instead of radio buttons or by other selection methods.
5.5.3.1.3 Updating One or More Instances From Among 25 to 150 Objects	When the user wants to perform an action on multiple objects the objects to act on must be selected first. The items are listed and the user can choose one or perform a search to narrow down the list. For the list, you can use one of these methods: List items in a table with selection radio buttons (paginated when necessary). Include additional columns of attributes for identification purposes, and offer basic filter and sort if they are useful. Use a list box with at least 4 visible rows plus vertical scrollbars. A search is included so the user can quickly find a recognizable item.
5.5.3.1.4 Updating One or More Instances From Among More Than 150 Objects	When the user wants to perform an action on multiple objects the objects to act on must be selected first. The items are not listed. The user should search to narrow down the list.

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