Wizard Based Interface vs Traditional Interfaces
Wizard Based Interfaces are really easy for beginner users to interact with your system.
Traditional Interfaces provide a faster method of task interaction for more advanced users.
The traditional interface allows them (more advanced users) to be in control of the entire task interaction process from start to end.
A badly designed wizard interface forces users to do things in the steps outlined by the application.
Sometimes what you want to do is not available through the wizard, that is when the user will interact with the system directly.
An example of an application which has both the traditional/classic interface as well as a wizard interface is Winzip.
When you start Winzip for the very first time you have an option to always start with the classic interface, or the wizard based interface.
The wizard interface allows the interface designer to provide much more information to the end user. The traditional task interface does not.
However, that information in a wizard still needs to be kept to a minimal, be concise and to the point.
Nearly all beginner users will read what is stated on each wizard screen.
Users who have used the wizard enough times to know what the screen wants them to do will not.
This is when the user just does what they need to do without too much reading, and clicks on the “Next” button.
The wizard then notifies them what to do next.
An advanced user does not like the idea of passing the task to the wizard if they can do it (the task) quicker with much fewer mouse clicks.
Each type of interface has their own place with different types of users.
Let’s look at a common example.
An application is deployed and ready for distribution.
The end user receives the file as a .zip (or other compressed file format) and proceeds to unzip the application into a folder of their own choice.
Removing the application is easy, just goto the root folder and hit the delete key.
Wizard based installation programs however, require a few more steps, but some users prefer this.
I know that some apps these days have both distribution formats.
Which type of distribution the user downloads and installs is a matter of personal choice.
If your entire app is based within a wizard, but you may want to accomodate the other type of user as well, and maybe a third type of interface, does it not make sense to seperate the pure UI from all the other processing information?
(If the above still hasn’t sunk in, i’m just trying to give you another reason for multi-tiered based application).