AC12: User Control & Freedom
The purpose of this activity is to explore the undo models
used in desktop applications.
For this activity, you'll need to pick two applications installed on your laptop:
one application that supports text editing (such as a web browser, word processor,
text editor, IDE, or presentation creator), and another that supports drawing
(such as a drawing program, paint program, or presentation creator). Both applications
need to support undo, obviously, or you won't have much to explore.
1 Text Editing
Experiment with your text editing application by typing text, modifying its properties,
and using Undo. Try to figure out:
- how many undo histories are there -- one, or many?
- how is the history divided into undoable units?
- how long is the history? (It may be large, so don't spend too long trying to answer this question.)
- what user actions can't be undone?
- how much previous state is recovered when you undo? (selections? cursor positions)
- what visible feedback does Undo give? (e.g., if the Undo affects a location scrolled
off the screen)
2 Drawing
Now experiment with your drawing application by drawing or painting, changing properties,
and using Undo. Try to figure out:
- how many undo histories are there -- one, or many?
- how is the history divided into undoable units?
- how long is the history? (It may be large, so don't spend too long trying to answer this question.)
- what user actions can't be undone?
- how much previous state is recovered when you undo? (selections? cursor positions)
- what visible feedback does Undo give? (e.g., if the Undo affects a location scrolled
off the screen)