Is a wizard appropriate when the previous steps may need to be changed/modified?
I'm trying to design a single-page, or wizard-type of UI to fit the following criteria and am running into some issues with clarity.
The app:
- Takes a user's zip code
- Takes 2 pieces of information about an item
- Shows dynamic data related to that item and allows the user to make a selection from the dynamic data
- Displays a summary of the choice made
However, at step (3) and (4) the business would also like to give the user to ability to go back and add additional items - which is step (2). This muddies up step (3) because then dynamic data needs to be listed for more than one item. I'm also wondering if it's such a good idea to make the user jump back a step in the process.
The other alternative is adding steps to the wizard in-line when the user wants to add additional items, but I'm a bit cautious about doing this because then I can't really predict how many "steps" the user will take and show him/her where he/she is in the process with a progress-bar. (or can I? I don't know how I would.)
I feel like I'm missing a UI pattern here that might better apply to this scenario. Any thoughts are appreciated.
Extra thoughts: I've toyed with the idea of scrapping a traditional wizard and designing the flow on one screen:
- Text area with zip code
- Text area for entering item information and button to "Add to Summary"
- Adding to summary clears the text area to allow for additional items to be added
- Dynamically display text area beneath it being careful to differentiate between items and allow for removal of the item's dynamic info
- When user makes a selection from dynamic info, display summary area beneath.