Left-click, right-click, and double click events for web application

Question

I'm working on a scheduling UI that has some actions that I would like to map to mouse-based shortcuts (all functions can be manually performed outside of the shortcuts, as well).

An example of part of the UI is below:

Each colored area reflects a "slot" (something which has been scheduled). The context menu visible currently appears when you single-click (left click) on an existing "slot".

Double-clicking an existing slot acts as a shortcut for the "Edit slot" option on the context menu.

Double clicking a section of the schedule that does not have a slot (such as to the right of the context menu in the example image) brings up a UI to search for items to schedule.

During design discussions, our internal testers (all of a much higher technical proficiency than our expected users) have all assumed that the contextual menu was a right-click menu.

I have avoided using right-click because I'm hesitant to override the default browser behavior.

Do the click choices I've outlined above make sense, or is there a better way to implement the shortcut options?

Note that the implementation will be within a closed environment, so mobile or touch-device interactions will not be an issue for the immediately-foreseeable future.

Answer 1

I believe you're on the right track.

You've mentioned that you're avoiding the use of right-clicking because you're hesitant to override default browser behavior which aligns with a users' expectation. Expectation of your users' will have to be addressed by your team; however, I would argue that most users expect browser controls to come up with the right click. There is an exception to this if your web application mimics a desktop tool (for instance, Google Docs/Spreadsheets overrides this expectation because it's mimicking a software application).

I would encourage you to move forward with your current decisions with the following consideration in mind:

• Is there a way that you can provide an affordance to the user that [left] clicking will bring up an options menu?