Show HN: Trip.js, a jQuery plugin for product landing page navigation • Hacker News Board

buweichiu wrote: post #3

pistoriusp wrote: post #2

I just want to point out that you're ultimate objective should be that the interface is easy enough to use without such tutorials.

thanks, we will make it easier, i don't know, maybe with a wizard? ha

pistoriusp's comment isn't about trip.js, it's about overall design of sites. The goal of a UX engineer is to make things like trip.js obsolete. The design should be clean and self explanatory.

Re: Show HN: Trip.js, a jQuery plugin for product landing page navigation

#15

Post by manojlds » Sat, Mar 23, 2013, 4:17 PM UTC

Bjoern wrote: post #13

Good work ! Thank you for adding more variety to the ecosystem. :) There was alot of discussion on a similar one recently created on pure JS only called intro.js. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5380056 Lets try to get a list together with all similar solutions for the community: OpenSource similar solutions: - jQuery Impromptu http://trentrichardson.com/Impromptu/ - Zurb Joyride http://foundation.zurb.com/docs/…

Bootstro.js - http://clu3.github.com/bootstro.js/

Re: Show HN: Trip.js, a jQuery plugin for product landing page navigation

#16

Post by JungleGymSam » Sat, Mar 23, 2013, 4:47 PM UTC

Hi! Great to see another take on this paradigm. A few comments...

1. The tooltips don't seem to be aware of the size of the view screen. During the tutorial one of the tooltips appeared offscreen because it (probably) assumed my window was big enough to see everything.

2. The speed was too quick. I barely had enough time to orient my eyes then read the tip before it moving on. Considering that, I think automation in this way is undesirable. Each step should probably be user driven.

3. To make the site look a little more professional you could remove the space in front of the exclamation points.

Re: Show HN: Trip.js, a jQuery plugin for product landing page navigation

#17

Post by pistoriusp » Sat, Mar 23, 2013, 4:56 PM UTC

theschreon wrote: post #9

pistoriusp wrote: post #2

I just want to point out that you're ultimate objective should be that the interface is easy enough to use without such tutorials.

Sometimes the underlying processes an application is designed for are too complex to be self-explanatory. Look at e.g. Photoshop, would not work without tutorials.

Photoshop doesn't have overlay help such as this.

I'm not arguing against any help, I'm simply stating that if it's easy enough to explain with an overlay then it's probably possible to make the interface intuitive enough without it.

Re: Show HN: Trip.js, a jQuery plugin for product landing page navigation

#18

Post by lshemesh » Sat, Mar 23, 2013, 6:08 PM UTC

I'm the founder of Tutorialize and honestly I love that these tools keep popping up! We're all trying to accomplish the same task, and for good reason. If your UI is so simple that it doesn't require some kind of guidance system, then your site probably doesn't do much. There is a reason why everything that's even a little bit complex comes with a manual. Anyways, keep'm coming!

Re: Show HN: Trip.js, a jQuery plugin for product landing page navigation

#19

Post by lshemesh » Sat, Mar 23, 2013, 6:24 PM UTC

bsilvereagle wrote: post #14

buweichiu wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

thanks, we will make it easier, i don't know, maybe with a wizard? ha

pistoriusp's comment isn't about trip.js, it's about overall design of sites. The goal of a UX engineer is to make things like trip.js obsolete. The design should be clean and self explanatory.

I 100% agree with your comment. That is most definitely the goal of a UX engineer. However it's kind of like striving for perfection, it's impossible. If anything a really good UX engineer shoots for that 100% and fills in the rest with these types of tools. Can anyone here point to a complex webapp that doesn't have some kind of instructions system?

Re: Show HN: Trip.js, a jQuery plugin for product landing page navigation

#20

Post by ako » Sat, Mar 23, 2013, 6:26 PM UTC

pistoriusp wrote: post #17

theschreon wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes the underlying processes an application is designed for are too complex to be self-explanatory. Look at e.g. Photoshop, would not work without tutorials.

Photoshop doesn't have overlay help such as this. I'm not arguing against any help, I'm simply stating that if it's easy enough to explain with an overlay then it's probably possible to make the interface intuitive enough without it.

iPhoto on the ipad has overlays. Same sort of app, focus on usability, on a usability focussed device, but still overlays are needed...