Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mcvax!ukc!strath-cs!glasgow!cocksho
From: cocksho@cs.glasgow.ac.uk (Tunde M. Cockshott)
Newsgroups: comp.cog-eng
Subject: Re: Using kinesthetic memory for human interfaces
Summary: Sub pie menus.
Message-ID: <1434@crete.cs.glasgow.ac.uk>
Date: 29 Jun 88 10:33:09 GMT
References: <3535@pdn.uucp>  <4988@watcgl.waterloo.edu>
Reply-To: cocksho@cs.glasgow.ac.uk (Tunde M. Cockshott)
Organization: Comp Sci, Glasgow Univ, Scotland
Lines: 22

What is the standard method of sub-menus with pie-menus ?

The ones I have had experience of offer a child menu when
you leave the circular perimeter of the parent.
This system has the problem that the child covers a large
part of the parent.  This may be fine for experienced users
but for novices it makes it difficult for the user to reasses
his choice in the light of the contents of the child.  If the
desired item is not included in the child, then the user
would like to scan the parent for any other likely contenders.
The delay required to leave the child in order to make the parent 
visable is small but over a period of time would be frustrating.

An alternitive might be to 'fan out' a semi - circular menu from 
the edge of the pie section.  This would keep the whole menu
tree always visable.  A dissadvantage is that it would limit the 
number of entries in the sub menus.

Is this a problem ? What other systems are there ?


	Tunde Cockshott.