[DUG] TUMONZ SDK beta program - general GUI design

[Guy.Brown at sungard.com]

You have access to a bigger user base than me (base of one) so not
wanting to argue with you but you are after feedback so here goes.

As searches have become more powerful in recent years so I would think
that the most frequent way of locating a location would be a text
search.  Google maps, and to a lesser extent google earth are built
around this type of interface with a text search box in a prominent
place in the interface.  Probably not surprising given Google's main
business.

Regardless of what your looking for, even if it's a nameless block of
land you are going to locate it by it's nearest feature.  I would do
that by searching for the feature, river, hut, road or whatever then pan
to what I am looking for.  I find that when I try and find something
visually (normally in google earth where the search feature doesn't seam
to locate NZ landmarks for me for some strange reason) I am always
sitting there scratching my head while zoomed out trying to work out if
I am looking at the Waimak, Selwyn or whatever and then finding my house
from there.

My 2c

Guy

-----Original Message-----
From: delphi-bounces at ns3.123.co.nz [mailto:delphi-bounces at ns3.123.co.nz]
On Behalf Of Phil Scadden
Sent: Thursday, 25 May 2006 4:44 p.m.
To: NZ Borland Developers Group - Delphi List
Subject: RE: [DUG] TUMONZ SDK beta program - general GUI design

> For sure, skin a cat, many ways etc etc.  FYI my typical usage of a 
> mapping program (windows based, I haven't used Tumonz live other than 
> to try it out) it to do a text search for a location, click on that 
> location so that the map will bring me to that location hopefully at a

> reasonable zoom level.  Then pan around that location.  I never find a

> location by locating it on a big scale then zooming into it so for me 
> zoom is a very rarely used feature.

Hmm, but for others its huge. Want to work in  a particular area. It
probably doesn't have a name, so locate in map of nz by marque box, and
then probably another iteration to get area right as recognisable
features come in by zooming in. Now, lets say want to locate land owner
so can contact them. Chances are I am zooming in and out all the time to
get workable information where landowner is on small blocks. Ditto when
finding things like schools or petrol stations.

----------------------------------------------------------
Phil Scadden, Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences
764 Cumberland St, Private Bag 1930, Dunedin, New Zealand Ph +64 3
4799663, fax +64 3 477 5232

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