Making the Web Work: Designing Effective Web Applications

Constructing Workflows Using Views and Forms

With the basics of views and forms established, you can now turn to the various ways of combining them to support different workflows and tasks. In addition to the free-form hyperlink interaction that’s fundamental to the Web, there are three other commonly used structural models: hubs, wizards, and guides.

In some situations, the conceptual model you select dictates a structural model. For example, the conceptual model of mail implies a structural model of a hub, and the conceptual model of a reservation system implies a wizard. However, whether you choose a structural model or have one dictated by the conceptual model, understanding its unique behaviors, characteristics, and appropriate uses ...