Eric’s problem is that he is waiting for a page reload to happen, when in fact there is no page reload necessary. He doesn’t (appear to) condone the idea of simulating a refresh or creating an “Ajax Enabled” badge, but that’s perfectly reasonable. I myself see those solution temporary and inelegant. The yellow fade technique (or something similar) seems to be the best thing — it’s subtle, unobtrusive, and makes it obvious that a change has occured; another helpful idea is that of an indicator icon appearing during processing time, so as to prevent users from either halting or forgetting about the process occuring. Eric proposes that we pay more attention to the human-computer interface (HCI) to avoid similar problems like the one he has experienced. Has anyone else had a similar problem with the way Ajax works (or doesn’t work)? I’d like to get some input on various problems, so as to avoid these mistakes myself in the future (and of course, my readership or anyone searching the Web who may find this post will benefit as well — I’m not only thinking of myself).
On a completely unrelated note, a good friend of mine, Ryan Gabbard, has begun his own personal weblog. It’s powered by the almighty Wordpress blogging software; the site was designed by Ryan and integrated with Wordpress by yours truly. Check it out, I’m sure he’ll have some great stuff for us to read! (Hear that, Ryan? Yeah, you better. ;) )
