APC and Web Networks Release Drupal Usability Report
APC and Web Networks Release Drupal Usability Report http://drupal.org/node/83806 andre
Andre Molnar wrote:
APC and Web Networks Release Drupal Usability Report http://drupal.org/node/83806
Is there an HTML version? That is often easier to work with. From the report: "Binary options should use two radio buttons, one for each of the states." From Nielson's Alertbox: "A stand-alone checkbox is used for a single option that the user can turn on or off" (http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20040927.html). I wasn't able to find anything relating to this at the cited source of research-based usability guidelines at http://usability.gov/pdfs/chapter13.pdf. Nielson cites Inside Macintosh (1984) and "all subsequent GUI standards and the official W3C Web standards..." (not the best citation) I think the current Apple Human Interface Guidelines say it best, "Use checkboxes to indicate one or more options that must be either on or off. Each checkbox label should clearly imply two opposite states so it’s clear what happens when the box is checked or unchecked. If you can’t find an unambiguous label, consider using radio buttons so you can clarify the states with two different labels." (http://developer.apple.com/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/OSXHIGuid...) This says a hybrid should be used. If there is an unambiguous checkbox label, then use a checkbox. Otherwise, use radio buttons to increase the amount of space for labels from one to three lines. This is good work. It would have been nice to know this was coming before it was finished. Perhaps http://groups.drupal.org/usability would be a good place to notify interested people and collaborate before the final release of such documents in the future. -- Neil Drumm http://delocalizedham.com/
"Neil Drumm" wrote:
From the report: "Binary options should use two radio buttons, one for each of the states."
From Nielson's Alertbox: "A stand-alone checkbox is used for a single option that the user can turn on or off" (http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20040927.html).
These are distinct interface (and logical, more precisely) elements. The first you reference is a 'binary' object group. That is, it is an object that has only 2 states (represented by the buttons in the group), but one of the states is required. The second logical element, the checkbox, is a 2-state object which may be value-less. Often, but not always, 'valueless' is logically equivalent to some other value (say, zero). Therefore, the UI principle to consider to distinguish the two interface elements is: radio button -- when a value is required to be provided checkbox -- when a value is able to be toggled (to the 'no value' state) Again, often but not always logically equivalent. -- inkfree
inkfree press wrote:
"Neil Drumm" wrote:
From the report: "Binary options should use two radio buttons, one for each of the states."
From Nielson's Alertbox: "A stand-alone checkbox is used for a single option that the user can turn on or off" (http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20040927.html). ... Therefore, the UI principle to consider to distinguish the two interface elements is:
radio button -- when a value is required to be provided
checkbox -- when a value is able to be toggled (to the 'no value' state)
Again, often but not always logically equivalent.
The internal values aren't shown in any UI and we shouldn't force the UI to be driven by underlying logical differences like (0, 1) vs. (null, 1). The point is, the UI could be any of: Clean URLs: (o) Disabled ( ) Enabled This option makes Drupal emit "clean" URLs (i.e. without ?q= in the URL.) or [ ] Enable clean URLs This option makes Drupal emit "clean" URLs (i.e. without ?q= in the URL.) or URL style: (o) http://example.com/?q=admin/settings/clean-urls ( ) http://example.com/admin/settings/clean-urls -- Neil Drumm http://delocalizedham.com/
"Neil Drumm" wrote:
The point is, the UI could be any of:
Yes, we are agreed. I was responding to a specific point about 2 approaches, and not advocating one approach or the other (or even some un-named other). You are also right, even though it is not specifically stated, that "dimensional factors" (screen real estate, UI element location, etc.) play a significant role in choosing the best _human display_ of some _UI element_ which is a representation of a _logical construct_. Once the translation begins, and the process of transposing "logic" to "display" takes its course, certain similar UI elements may be eliminated or selected based on a variety of factors. -- inkfree
Andre Molnar wrote:
APC and Web Networks Release Drupal Usability Report http://drupal.org/node/83806
I've been meaning to find an excuse to write http://drupal.org/node/83857 for awhile now. -- Neil Drumm http://delocalizedham.com/
participants (3)
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Andre Molnar -
inkfree press -
Neil Drumm