UX Design for Disabled Controls w/ the Touch Interface

Question

So we're re-designing a desktop application so that it's also usable with thye Touch Interface with Windows 7. We've consulted the UX guidelines.

For some part of the UI, there are toolbox icons that are disabled because of some arcane rules (the software communicates with a hardware device). We disable the actions that aren't applicable (because of some condition) and let the user hover the mouse on the tool icon to see the tooltip explanation on why that tool is disabled.

Since there is no "hover" for the touch interface (windows 7, iphone, ..) what is a better pattern/model for this?

Thanks!

Answer 1

One option is to leave the control enabled and show a message when it is clicked to say why it won't do anything. However as stated in 'Disabled Menus Are Usable' this throws away valuable information for an experienced user (although this is less of an issue for icons than menus as there are usually less icons to go through than menus).

Another possibility is to provide a control like the click for help tools that were popular a few years ago. The user would first click on the 'why is this disabled' control, then click on the control that is disabled. This is however a rather clunky solution.

Another problem with toolbox icons on a touch interface is that the tooltip text is often essential as it is often impossible to convey complex/domain-specific actions with an icon. i would imagine many users on a touch only device will just use the menus instead as they can work out what they will do.

Answer 2

Not an official solution but here's how I'll approach this until a better solution is available:

• Make the item look disabled but still be clickable.
• Add an overlay icon (of a question or similar) so it looks more than just disabled.
• When clicked, display the message that would have been in the tooltip. Preferably in a non modal way and that doesn't require acknowledgement.