Wizard

EN Texto en inglés Aún no hay artículo en tu idioma: extracto en inglés.

A software wizard or setup assistant or multi-step form is a user interface that leads a user through a sequence of small steps, such as a dialog box to configure a program for the first time. They are used to make complex, unfamiliar tasks easier by breaking them into smaller pieces. Before the 1990s, "wizard" was a common term for a technical expert, comparable to "hacker." The 1985 textbook Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs was nicknamed the "Wizard Book" for the illustration on its cover; its first chapter says, "A computational process is indeed much like a sorcerer's idea of a spirit." When developing the first version of its desktop publishing software, Microsoft Publisher, around 1991, Microsoft wanted to help users create well-presented documents in spite of their lack of graphic design skills. Microsoft reasoned that, no matter the tools a program offered, users would not know how best to use them. Publisher's "Page Wizards" instead provided a set of forms to produce a complete document layout, based on a professionally designed template, which could then be manipulated with the standard tools. Wizards had been in development at Microsoft for several years before Publisher, notably for Microsoft Access, which wouldn't ship until November 1992. Wizards were intended to learn from how someone used a program and anticipate what they may want to do next, guiding them through more complex sets of tasks by structuring and sequencing them. They also served to teach the product by example.