Assume that we have an application where the user can add his/her events. The application has 4 main functions (represented as horizontal tabs when the user logs in):
- calendar view
- list view
- graph view
- import events
Tab #2 (list view) doesn't present anything useful unless at least 1 event has been entered.
Tab #3 (graph view) doesn't do anything useful as well unless at least 4 events have been entered.
My 2 options:
- All 4 tabs are visible even when the user is new and has no events entered in the system. A helpful message on tab #2 and #3 will inform the user that there are not enough events (data) for these panels/functionalities to display anything useful.
- Dynamically reveal tab #2 when the user enters his/her 1st event and reveal tab #3 when the user enters his/her 4th event. Revealing of tabs (functionalities actually) will be done with an appropriate message of the form "List View enabled!".
Which one should I choose?
I'm not sure which path to choose because I'm afraid that:
- path 1 will confuse the very very new users (who have just registered) who will not know where to start from (even if the default tab is #1 and on tabs #2 and #3 there is message explaining the situtation)
- path 2 will make the application look very empty for users who have just registered. Could it be that it would confuse them as well because of the new tabs poping up injected between tabs #1 and #4?