[thelist] Re: UI Standards

[.jeff]

shanx & tim,

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> From: Shashank Tripathi
>
> > Compare:
> > Do you want to save changes to Document1?
> > Yes No Cancel
> >
> > vs
> > Unsaved changes in file:
> > Cancel Don't Save Save
>
> I actually prefer the first, because I am "used" to
> seeing those buttons. It always asks me YES/NO/CANCEL,
> where as the second style would expect me to respond to
> "SAVE/DONTSAVE/CANCEL", "EDIT/DONT EDIT/CANCEL",
> "OPEN/DONT OPEN/CANCEL"...and so on for different
> functions, which would mean a lot more cognitive
> processing to essentially do the same thing.
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and we all know that users don't read the dialog boxes anyway.  they click the button they're most accustomed to clicking regardless of whether that will result in the desired effect or not.

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> > ((This is the same logic that gave us the START button
> > to logout/powerdown/shutdown.))
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i'd challenge anybody to come up with a word or icon that could be used to fully and accurately represent all the functionality available from the start or apple menu.

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> 2. In any case, when one starts a computer, START is a
>    good cue about where to start. IMHO, it is a better
>    cue than an apple icon -- which btw does not indicate
>    SHUTDOWN in any way either.
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and makes even less sense as an option available from a menu item labeled "special".  i personally do not think that standby or shutdown are "special".

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>    Also, while we are on the subject, I prefer my
>    taskbar to be at the bottom of the screen than the
>    top, although this could be a matter of
>    acclimitization.
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or more importantly, a matter of customization if you just can't acclimatize yourself to its location on screen.  prefer it at the top?  drag it up there and dock it to the top?  prefer it on one side of the screen or the other?  move it there.  this is certainly one aspect where windows has apple beat.

speaking of things i dislike about the mac interface.

i find it much more difficult to get an accurate sense of what applications/windows are open when using a mac because they're hidden in a dropdown menu top right.  this leaves the bulk of the bar across the top open, which apple inconveniently uses for the menu options for the active application.  i much prefer having buttons that represent the open applications/windows.

i constantly have the contents of the desktop visible to one degree or another distracting me from what i'm trying to do in the active application/window.  there isn't any way to completely maximize the window so all i see is its contents.  there's a button with a very non-descript symbol in it that performs not two, but three resize actions when i click it in succession.  i've never really grasped what it's trying to do and i've used macs off and on for over a half dozen years.

if my window is small and doesn't happen to be near the top of the screen, i have to move my mouse all the way to the top of the window if i want to activate a menu option.  additionally, if i want to resize the window i have a very small hit zone in the bottom right hand corner of the active window (if it's resizable).  ever had a window that opened taller than the screen?  it's fun trying to get the window moved so you can get to that resize zone and make the window smaller so it'll fit.

scrolling is annoying since the button to scroll up is below the scrollbar, but above the scroll down button.  when i need to scroll to a particular point in a document/window (especially ones with lots of content), there's no context menu available when right-clicking the scrollbar to scroll to the clicked region.  if i want to close the window with the mouse i have to either use the menu options that are way up top or i have to move the mouse (which spends the majority of the time in the right-hand half of the screen) to the top left of the active window and click a tiny hit zone.

keyboard use seems to be next to impossible, from my experience.  i hate how the cmd and option keys are the exact opposite functionality from what i'd expect them to be based on their placement and my experience with windows.  i constantly am pressing the outside most key and expecting to be able to copy, paste, refresh, etc.  when it doesn't happen i realize that i need to be pressing the key right next to the space bar.  ugh, annoying.

despite all the things i dislike about the mac interface, there is something i like about it alot -- the ability to roll the window up so it's just the titlebar.

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> Would love to hear others' thoughts. Interesting topic.
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agreed.  i hope i haven't strayed too far into the os zone, but i think it's tangentially related to how web-based applications are designed.  if you're building a web-based app for a primarily mac sporting user base, you'll probably want to try to think like a mac user when designing it.  the same would hold true if the majority of your users are windows users.

my 2/100,

.jeff

http://evolt.org/
jeff at members.evolt.org
http://members.evolt.org/jeff/