In some application with UI, what is better (easy, friendly, etc.) to a user:
or
Sorry for my French:)
I have seen good examples of both, and bad examples of both.
Your primary goal should be in making sure that your UI design (whatever route you choose) makes the entire process logically sensible to your intended audience.
I always recommended a UI that is as unchanging as possible:
I nearly always keep the UI static and simply disable (grey out) components that aren't applicable at this moment in time. It can be jarring to the user and confusing if components move around as you show/hiden them as the state changes.
I'd suggest prototyping both and asking your users (or a representative sample) which they prefer and why.
In my opinion, a static GUI with disabled controls is preferable.
When some options are not visible, the user will not know they exist.
A modal UI introduces mode errors. Always.
You currently seem to want to choose between two different ways of presenting a modal UI. From those I'd say the first one is superior (unless you really have many possible commands, see the Office 2007 UI for a good example how to handle this, but it's not common to have that many).
If you have the space and you haven't too many controls then I'd really go with disabled controls as it shows th user what is possible. Furthermore you might want to make it really clear which mode the UI is in (not just from the buttons that are enabled). I've seen user interfaces where you had disabled buttons but the user couldn't figure out what he has to do to enable them.
In any event be sure to do usability testing to find out what way is less error-prone on behalf of your users.
Just to re-iterate what Mitch Wheat said really.
If you make buttons disappear and reappear depending on user actions then there is the danger that the user might think that they've done something that's broken the application.
You are also hiding actions from the user, so it will be harder for them to discover what it can do.
Disabling buttons is a well known paradigm and users will be able to see everything that your application can do and will experiment to see how to enable them.
I think it depends on what users you want to hide design for but in general I would opt for the static version. Don't forget that a user interface doesn't only provide functionality but also information. If you grey out a button you inform the user about it's state (by what he can do and what not) more clearly than removing buttons.
The remove button aproach can work for users that in general have good understanding of the system like admins. But I think you should use this with causion
Grayed out buttons are better, because then the user will know that under some situation such a function is available (and depending on the context the user might be able to guess when it is enabled), and the visual cue of being grayed out will signal to the user that the button can not be clicked, so the user will not try to click it (the problem with a message after clicking is that it comes too late - the user already made a mistake).
Both of those styles have their uses. Remember that you should always use the right tool for the job and that there are (almost) no absolutes in creating software.
A static UI with grayed out elements is preferable in most cases. By providing a simple non-obtrusive message (don't show a modal message box for instance) when the user clicks or tries to interact with the grayed out elements, you can train your users.
What really happens in most cases is that there is a grayed out menu and your users are left wondering what they need to fix to be able to click on that element. This is bad UI design.
A dynamic UI is also relevant if you have an extensive administration section that the logged in user should NEVER be able to use. By hiding the administration section, you avoid confusion and interface "overload" for users who will NEVER interact with the hidden interface elements.
A dynamic UI is required in applications like Adobe Photoshop. There are literally thousands of commands and menu items possible in Adobe Photoshop. The only way that any user could comprehend the interface is by hiding and showing user interface elements depending on the state of the application.
Whatever you choose, use constant positions of the buttons. Users often are not read text on the buttons.
Depends. But a clear and compact GUI is a nice thing to have. Why bother with 10 fields/controls you cannot change or use at all. For example on stackoverflow you have a reduced UI if you only have a low reputation, because it doesn't matter at all to the user, that one day he might be able to use them. Another thing is that controls (with borders) usual take more space than just text. If you have information, that currently cannot be changed, I would present them in a very compact text field/label. Depending on the information it even could be placed outside or far way from the form.
Both can make sense, as long as you use paradigms the users are familiar with.
The tab control is basically a dynamic UI that changes depending on the state.
Well, that's the idea behind the latest MS Office, right? Controls that are around based on context. That, versus older versions with lots of grayed-out menus and toolbar buttons.
I worked for a number of years on control systems and in those environments, we mimicked the hardware controls (toggles, dials, buttons) that were, of course, static though not always usable. This was a customer requirement and their position was that the operator using the system expected button X to always in the same place. But from the designer and developer standpoint, I was frustrated by the cluttered UI and didn't like it when 95% of the buttons on a screen were grayed out.
I think that it will depend on your audience and the domain and customer requirements. In my shop, I make things dynamic and offer controls that make sense based on context. Typically, we don't show grayed out buttons or menu options that aren't available in the current context. Once the users recognize that they follow certain workflows and those involve particular UI elements when appropriate, they have no problems with (and probably prefer) a dynamic UI.
Less is better.
If an action is not available because the profile of the user forbids its use do not show it at all
If an action is not available only because another action must first be completed either :
Grey it out or
Leave it activated but on execution display a message with a clear explanation of why it cannot be executed
Why not do both and let the A/B testing tell you what your users prefer?
Make the action unavailable (by hiding, disabling, or using an error message) only if the action is logically impossible for the current state of the task, or to encode organizational rules on the actions certain users are permitted to do (e.g., privileges/permissions). Whenever possible make the user actions always available:
Use status indicators to discourage unnecessary actions, but allow them anyway.
Use verification and undo to prevent permanent damage from unadvisable actions, rather than disallowing the actions. Users may need to do something some day that is usually “unadvisable.”
Alter app design to make actions always possible in some way. For example, if a field needs to be filled out before an action can be done, prompt the user for the field, rather than disallowing the action.
Control user behavior through organizational policy, not software. Policies are easier to change when the business rules change or when there’s an exception or emergency.
Use disabling when:
The user can do something in the app to make the action available.
Availability is achieved through controls in the same window or its parent.
The user can easily figure out which control does this.
Use toggling controls rather than disabling for turning processes on and off.
Use read-only text boxes rather than disabled text boxes for data that is applicable for the current state unchangeable by the user.
Use hiding (“dynamic UI”):
For actions that are never available to the user in his or her current job.
For indicating different virtual places or things (e.g,. pages on a tab control, where each “tab” is a different place or thing). Make sure visual design is compatible with this: if you are representing different places, then make it look like different places (e.g., the way tabs do)
For swapping large numbers of controls with alternative controls.
Use layout, symbols, and text to explain unavailability, especially disabling. For example, mark your required fields; use tooltips to say why a button is disabled.
Use error messages rather than disabling or hiding when there no other means to indicate graphically or textually how to make an action available.
Further details and rationale at http://www.zuschlogin.com/?p=40.
I think it's better to focus on the user productivity and on the business the software is implementing.
To show operations that does not make sense for a specific user or in a specific moment will not help, disabled or not.
For example, if you have a software that is used in several departments of an organization, each user/department will only be interested in the part of the software that implements the part of the business he is involved to. Anything else is useless for him and only will make the software experience worst. The same applies for a screen that is usefull for a user but shows useless options.
Consistency is probably the most important thing when designing an UI. If buttons pop in and out, they are seen as a visual stimulus, and the user will "spend" attention looking at them.
A subtle, but clearly disabled button (not disappearing) is my preffered choice for designing UI....
.. So I guess that's option 1 :)
A combination of the two.
If a function is not applicable in the current state, disable the button but also place an icon next to the button and associate a tooltip with the icon. The tooltip should explain why the user can't use the button right now.
Attaching the tooltip directly to the button doesn't work so well. Most users won't even hover over the button as they won't expect it to do anything.
And avoid exclamation mark icons. They suggest the user has entered an invalid value (unless they actually have.)
I'd like to say I always do this, but unfortunately it does take significantly more coding time, and clients aren't always willing to pay for that.
I like to keep all advanced options hidden under a "More >>"/"Less <<" button, or "Advanced Mode" checkbox, depending on the context and application.
Once clicked/checked, the window expands to reveal more options.
In terms of action availability though (like a Wizard featuring Next/Previous buttons) I always show them, and enable/disable them according to what functionality is possible.