UI Design disabled radio buttons

Question

Hi, I have an HTML interface developed using the usual suspects and I have a list of check boxes, which are segments / groups which the user can run a report on. These segments need to be created on the server, so generally would not be available until the next day after creating them. My issue is that I need a graceful way to display the fact that some of these may not usable / ready and cannot be used. Some ideas I've had 1) Disable the check box 2) Disable the check box and place a string (- Not processed / Not available afterwards) and change the text colour to something else. 3) Display the usable check boxes first and then have a string like --- Not available --- and then display the unavailable check boxes. This would appear to be the best option but I have a text box which filters the items, and this code would have to be modified, not a huge job.

I don't have much space on the page so another list isn't really an option.

any suggestions / ideas would be appreciated.

Regards

John

Answer 1

If you have UI visual things you want advice on I'd suggest giving us a screenshot of how it looks at the moment. Its very hard to say what will be best in terms of UI without seeing the rest of the UI. You can always blur out anything sensitive or change things to Lorem Ipsum for the sake of a screenshot.

Personally though I'd suggest trying all three and seeing which looks best. Maybe grab a random co-worker or friend (depending on the context of the project) and ask them to try it out and see what they think makes most sense.

I reckon 3 sounds like the best option to me but it is really all very usbjective and context sensitive.

Answer 2

If the checkboxes follow an order, I think option 2) is the best, all options should be the same order even if unavailable...