Objecten category and toolbox

The object category is comparable to the drag and drop module from the current interface and enables users to select an object and to place this object in the landscape. Only one object can be selected at a time and only one object can be placed per mouse click in the landscape. The two main actions performed in this category are (i) the selection action and (ii) the placement action.

The user knows often beforehand which object they would like to place. Selecting this object should be an easy and fast process. A problem with the current interface is that vegetational objects are separated and located in different tabs, making it difficult for the user to find what they are looking for. The main design concept reorders the current group- ing of objects into the following seven groupings: (i) wind turbines, (ii) solar panels, (iii) vegetation, (iv) anaerobic digestion (Dutch: biover- gisting), (v) landscape decoration, (vi) basic shapes and (vii) import. A user can click on the object button to get access to the object tool- box. This toolbox consists of the seven object groups and can be seen underobjectenin figure6.11.

Object list and example

Each group leads (eventually) to a list with objects. An object can be selected from this list by clicking on the name of the object. This

will highlight the object and the user is able to click somewhere in the landscape to place the object. It is also recommended to add a sort- ing possibility, discussed in paragraph5.4.3, although further research should reveal which sorting options users would prefer. This window

Figure 6.12:Example of a mouse hov- ering over the first object on the list.

also has a search field to allow the user to find their object quickly if they know the object name. Hovering over an object name will open a new window to the right of the object list window, where a rotational model shows how the object looks and provides specifications, see figure6.12for an example. The height of the object is also mentioned in this window. Adding an object example before selecting an object fulfills the request of interviewees, as mentioned in paragraph5.4.2.

Subgroups and minimised windows

Two groups are divided further into subgroups, namely (i) vegetation and (ii) landscape decoration. Vegetation leads to five further sub- groups: (i) broad-leaved trees (Dutch:loofbomen), (ii) coniferous trees (Dutch:naaldbomen), (iii) grass, (iv) flowers and (v) weed. The land-

Figure 6.13:Example of a chosen sub- group and its object list.

Figure 6.14:Example of two minimised windows.

figures, (ii) car models and (iii) park benches. The corresponding ob- ject list window will appear after a subgroup is selected. An example can be seen in figure6.13.

Each window can be minimised by clicking the arrow symbol in the top left corner, fulfilling the request of interviewees as discussed in paragraph5.4.1. Minimising the windows of figure6.13 will lead to the minimised windows in figure6.14. A minimised window denotes the subject of its window and, if applicable, the selected subgroup or object.

Custom-made objects

Selecting the wind turbine group opens a list with wind turbine objects that is divided in two parts: (i) a list with wind turbines that pre-existed with the program and (ii) a list with custom-made wind turbines. The latter list will first be empty until a user creates a new wind turbine. The plus icon at the bottom of the window, allows a user to open a window, where the user can provide the program with the numbers necessary for creating a custom wind turbine. A new window opens at the right of this window once sufficient values for the custom-made wind turbine are provided. This new window shows live how the wind turbine would look with the current given values. The object list window, wind turbine building window and live custom wind turbine example window and their positions can be seen in figure6.15.

Figure 6.15:Object list, wind turbine building and live example windows.

In the current interface the user must go to two modules to create and place the custom-build wind turbine, namely (i) the drag and drop mod- ule and (ii) thewindmolenconfigurator module. The user needs the latter to build the wind turbine and the former to place it. Only after placing the wind turbine in the landscape can the user see what their filled in entry fields resulted in. In the main design concept the user can create and place a wind turbine from the same menu and the user can study its custom-build before creating it by receiving immediate feedback.

The solar panel object menu works similarly as the wind turbine object menu, with also the possibility to build a custom solar panel. The solar panel custom-build menu has other entry fields to fill, but there are no other differences. A custom-build entry can with both object groups always be changed or deleted.

Figure 6.16:Window belonging to the path point button.

Figure 6.17:The radio button to tog- gle between the group and ecosystem toolbox variants.