GUI Layout

[altermattw]

Mock-up of an alternative GUI layout below. See comments for the elements at the Google version of the document here. Major ideas:

1. Navigating among output elements is on right side of screen in drop-down window, is flexible, and permits user customization.
2. Switching from viewing output to data done with tabbed panes (as in Haris' prototype).
3. Each output element contains a link to recall the relevant dialog, populated with the values that produced the output.
4. Minimalist interface.

[altermattw]

Haris had a great idea for a view that allowed users to interact with the variables as large icons. Something like this:

Each variable icon would contain some details about it, such as the mean, and maybe the distribution. If double-clicked, the icon expands and more details are revealed and some options for interaction are provided. This would be an innovative way to begin analysis. Users could multiple-select the variables they want to work with and then select, either with right-click or an "action panel" at the edge of the screen, select options such as "plot", "table", "test", "combine", etc. The subsequent dialog would make some guesses based on the type of variables coming in and populate the dialog accordingly, but permit changes to be made and more variables to be added.

[krantzj]

I would worry about small format displays would make this unreadable. I think this format should be an option. Perhaps we could default based upon device.

John.

On 2/21/2013 12:29 PM, Bill Altermatt wrote:

Haris had a great idea for a view that allowed users to interact with the variables as large icons. Something like this: https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/123SBZb7JzjP1nXJFd_U6HaJdCm5y_qXqBFSmKZyp4EY/pub?w=960&h=720 Each variable icon would contain some details about it, such as the mean, and maybe the distribution. If double-clicked, the icon expands and more details are revealed and some options for interaction are provided. This would be an innovative way to begin analysis. Users could multiple-select the variables they want to work with and then select, either with right-click or an "action panel" at the edge of the screen, select options such as "plot", "table", "test", "combine", etc. The subsequent dialog would make some guesses based on the type of variables coming in and populate the dialog accordingly, but permit changes to be made and more variables to be added.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/skiadas/PanthR/issues/12#issuecomment-13901557.

[altermattw]

Good point. Could cross-reference this discussion with the Drag-and-drop Variable label issue. Maybe those variable labels could be scalable. At minimum, they contain only the label of the variable. At maximum, they contain detailed information about the variable's distribution. In-between, CSS determines what to display. So on small screens, you see just the labels, which you can drag and drop around.

[skiadas]

Indeed I am thinking of it more of as placeholders than comprehensive info about the variables. To that end, the view could toggle between a list mode and a thumbnail grid mode. More details could appear when a user hovers over one of them, if the platform supports that.

What I would like there is the option to select multiple variables. A user should be able to say click (as opposed to double-clicking) to select a variable (or maybe a small checkbox in a corner they could turn on/off). Once one more more variables are selected, the user could use the plot/test/table button to start an analysis, and the dialog for that analysis would be pre-populated by these selected variables.

For a simple example, if the user wanted to export a couple of variables into their own dataset, he/she would select them in that manner then use an export feature.

Standard actions could also appear next to the variable as we hover over it/select it.