phetsims / fourier-making-waves

"Fourier: Making Waves" is an educational simulation in HTML5, by PhET Interactive Simulations.
GNU General Public License v3.0
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Measurement Tools: disable spinner when checkbox is unchecked #151

Closed pixelzoom closed 3 years ago

pixelzoom commented 3 years ago

@arouinfar change request, based on interviews:

For the Discrete screen Measurement Tools, if a checkbox is unchecked, disable the associated spinner.

pixelzoom commented 3 years ago

Done in the above commit. @arouinfar please verify in master.

arouinfar commented 3 years ago

Looks good in master!

In interviews, students had trouble figuring out how to turn on the measurement tools on the Discrete screen. All four students first tried the NumberSpinner. It's more attractive than the checkbox and naturally gets more attention. Two students quickly realized they needed to turn on the checkbox, but the other two expressed confusion and were eventually prompted to, "try turning on the tool".

When students encountered other disabled controls, they usually tried to figure out how to enable them. By disabling the NumberSpinner, I think students will be more likely to find the checkbox.