Hello:

I would like to thank the person who responded to my request for
information about moving a client application menu to a web-based menu.
My original email and the response is shown below.

=====================================================
Original Email

 From: ACM SIGCHI WWW Human Factors (Open Discussion)
 [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Jeff Rankin [[log in to unmask]]
 Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2004 9:57 AM
 To: [log in to unmask]
 Subject: C+S: Issues with moving a client application menu to a
web-based menu

Hello!

We have a Win 32 client application that we're moving to a browser-based
web application. Like most client applications, this one has a menubar
with several items, and many options within each item. I'm interested in
issues related to implementing this menu within a web application. My
instinct tells me it's not necessarily as simple as making the web menu
exactly like the client menu, that users will have different
expectations for the web version, and that there may be both advantages
and disadvantages in the web version's menu system. So, I'm curious what
others have experienced. I'm not interested in the technologies used to
implement web-based menus.

Some basic background: This is an application that allows users to
browse a large data set of service information (how to fix), parts
lists, and troubleshooting information for machinery.

Please send responses to me and I will summarize for the list. Thank
you!

=====================================================
Response

 From: Matthew Oliphant [[log in to unmask]]
 Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2004 9:38 AM
 To: Jeff Rankin
 Subject: RE: Issues with moving a client application menu to a
web-based menu

I had a similar project. The first thing I did was try to winnow the
menu options. I got rid of about half of the links (because they weren't
needed or could be stored on a different page altogether because it was
information that was optional at all times. That said, we still ended up
mimicking a GUI menu: top nav with drop-down-like function. It wasn't
the ideal solution (I never got to the point of finding an ideal
solution) because my primary user group for this application was also a
secondary user group of a very similar application and they were "more
important" so we had to use the solution already provided. But, it was
good to get rid of menu items that weren't needed and of course we
wouldn't have found out most of it without a contextual inquiry.

Not a definitive answer, but I hope it helps.

=====================================================
W. Jeffrey Rankin
Lead Web Application Developer

O'NEIL & ASSOCIATES, INC. http://www.oneil.com
495 Byers Rd.
Miamisburg, Ohio 45342-3662
Phone: (937) 865-0846 ext. 3504
Fax: (937) 865-5858
E-mail: [log in to unmask]



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