0

In iOS, I have some modal scenes that dismiss with a "Done" button in a toolbar.

But one of those modal scenes includes an editable UITableView. So I also have a standard Edit button (in a NavBar). While Editing, that button is renamed "Done" (and highlighted in blue).

Now there are two buttons labeled "Done" that do two very different things. I could rename the dismisser to "Cancel", but that seems like a non-standard usage. And it would be at odds with the other scenes (that don't involve editing), which dismiss via a "Done" button.

Is there a Human Interface recommendation? What's the "cleanest" solution?

jbbenni
  • 1,158
  • 12
  • 31
  • Have you tried different tags for different button? – brianLikeApple Nov 23 '12 at 14:30
  • I know how to use tags to help the programmer specify buttons, but that's not the problem I'm having. I'm more concerned with the user experience here. I don't want to display two buttons that look the same but behave differently. – jbbenni Nov 23 '12 at 14:46
  • Sorry! I misunderstand. What Ismael suggested is doable, but for me, it is still very strange to have two button! If I do this kind of application, I will leave Edit button, but remove Done button which is for dismiss model view. Instead of done button, I will use finger gesture stuff let view dismiss. what gesture you want to use is up to u : ) – brianLikeApple Nov 23 '12 at 15:18

1 Answers1

1

The easiest solution is that your "Done" (dismiss) button is not displayed while editing, so that it looks like this:

Not editing: ....[Edit][Done] <- (Done-dismiss)

Editing: ..............[Done] <- (Done-editing)

Another thing you can do is set the "Done" (editing) button on the left side (as well as hiding the "Done" (dismiss) button), so that the user notices it's a different type of "Done"

Note: From a UX point of view, showing two "Done" buttons that look identical on the same view at the same time is very wrong, even if they are in different positions

Ismael
  • 3,927
  • 3
  • 15
  • 23
  • Interesting idea, and it does achieve the goal of avoid having identically named buttons showing at the same time. It still seems a bit counterintuitive to have buttons that look the same yet mean different things (even if only one is visible at a time). I'll accept this answer if nothing better comes along soon. Thanks! – jbbenni Nov 23 '12 at 14:41
  • 1
    We do this all the time in my app. From a user point of view, when the user is editing whatever you are editing and want to be done with it, they will click "Done" (expecting to leave the window) and will instead be done editing, they'll learn that it's a different type of "Done" and then click "Done" again to leave the window. Users are generally smarter than we think :) Good luck! – Ismael Nov 23 '12 at 14:50