Visual wizard launch pad

Abstract

A computer-readable medium for interfacing with a plurality of wizards in a computer system includes programming instructions for providing the plurality of wizards, providing a launch button on a launch pad, the launch button associated with a wizard, where selection of the launch button executes the wizard, and providing information pertaining to the wizard on the launch pad. The information includes a relationship between the wizard and other wizards on the computer system, elements of the computer system affected by the wizard, and/or how to information showing how to use a user interface of an application on the computer system to accomplish a task. The launch pads are interactive interfaces between a user of a computer system and wizards which exist on the computer system. The information is provided in the form of text and/or visual objects.

1 . A computer-readable medium including program instructions for interfacing with a plurality of wizards in a computer system, the program instructions which when executed by the computer system cause the computer system to execute a method comprising:
 providing the plurality of wizards organized into groups;   providing a launch button on a launch pad, wherein the launch button is associated with at least one wizard, wherein selection of the launch button executes the at least one wizard;   providing information pertaining to the at least one wizard when a pointer is positioned over the launch button; and   providing a high-level visual overview of a process corresponding to the plurality of wizards to assist a user when the user may not be familiar with the process before the user selects the launch button to execute the at least one wizard, wherein the high-level overview comprises a relationship between the at least one wizard and other wizards on the computer system, wherein the high-level visual overview further comprises at least one of:
 a description of a function of the at least one wizard; 
 an order in which the at least one wizard and the other wizards should be executed; 
 elements of the computer system affected by the at least one wizard; 
 how to information showing how to use a user interface of an application on the computer system to accomplish a task, and wherein the how to information comprises at least one of graphics, a sound chip, and a textual description; and 
 a visual object for toggling between a conceptual view and the how to information, wherein the visual object is a graphical element which represents hardware and/or software elements of an application on the computer system which is affected by an execution of the at least one wizard. 
   
   
   
       2 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1  further comprising program instructions for:
 providing a plurality of launch pads on a display of the computer system; and   receiving a selection of one of the plurality of launch pads, wherein the selected launch pad is associated with a group of wizards.   
   
   
       3 . The computer-readable medium of claim I further comprising program instructions for:
 providing a plurality of launch pads on a display of the computer system;   providing a menu of the plurality of launch pads on the display; and   receiving a selection of one of the plurality of launch pads from the menu, wherein the selected launch pad is associated with a group of wizards.