I am building the following iPad UI, and it includes a "tap-to-edit" feature:
I personally like this type of UX - I like UIs where a user can interact directly with a document. However, I'm concerned that users who are less familiar with common touchscreen gestures will not be able to tell just by looking at the screen that they are indeed able to tap on that particular area of text to edit it.
Assuming "tap-to-edit" is good UX, I think there are three ways that I can "teach" my users about this feature:
- When a user creates a new document, have that text area set to some placeholder that indicates you can tap on the text to edit it (i.e., "Tap on this text to edit it").
- When a user creates a new document for the very first time, popup some sort of tip that will fade away that indicates they can tap the text to edit it.
- Include a "help" button somewhere on the top toolbar that, when pressed, would display a translucent help "infographic" that would highlight allowed user interactions on the screen.
What do you guys think? Should I ditch the tap-to-edit feature altogether, or should I go with one of the above options? (I should mention, option #1 is my favorite option so far - but I'm not convinced).