Questions tagged [controls]

an object used to operate a physical or virtual device. For questions regarding how to present and implement controls for a particular interface or interaction.

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138 votes
15 answers
16k views

Who needs an external on/off Wi-Fi button?

It puzzles me that there are Laptops which are shipped with external physical Wi-Fi buttons. I see no real use of it, but it might have a historical explanation?! The only time one notice the external ...
1 vote
1 answer
882 views

Position of the Cancel and Save Buttons on a iPhone

I'm skeptical where to put the Cancel and the Save Buttons in an iOS-app: Cancel on the left side and Save on right side or vice versa? I think the iOS Human Interface GuidelinesBeta of Apple says ...
2 votes
2 answers
1k views

Single and Multi-Select Up & Down Arrow Locations

I'm currently working on a interface that allows the user to order elements within in a box by using two arrows(up/down). Having designed and implemented controls of this nature in the past(some ...
1 vote
1 answer
174 views

What's that "chevrons" mouse-like "not a slider" interface?

Imagine an ordinary left-right slider (line with a grab) which runs from say -100 to 100. The position is the value ... it's a slider. However. I've sometimes seen rather: a horizontal area the same ...
1 vote
1 answer
345 views

Zoom Slider Control Positioning

I am wondering if anyone has experience with designing a zoom in/out control slider and if they know what the best possible position for them is? Is it the best user experience to have it horizontal ...
5 votes
2 answers
697 views

Contextual or global: action label in Navigation Bar and Segmented Control

I'm trying to layout a screen where users could delete some content using the classic iOS pattern: tap on the Nav-Bar's "edit" label (top-right) then tick the items to delete validate Nothing ...
4 votes
2 answers
240 views

UI design recommendations for application which uses trackball instead of mouse?

Does anyone have any recommendations for designing a (non-web) application for use with a trackball instead of a mouse? If you know of any guidelines, standards or just your own experience in this ...
9 votes
2 answers
490 views

Fling cells in table view

I'm currently working on a concept that allows user to "fling" table view cells in the reordering process (you can watch my short demo here). I have broad experience with iOS apps but haven't seen ...
0 votes
1 answer
45 views

Should we have a mail open by default on a mail system?

We're rebuilding our mail system on a mobile game and this mail system contains some important system messages we want to deliver to our users. But we're a little bit confused as to whether we should ...
10 votes
3 answers
8k views

What could I use for a tri-state control?

I'm trying to think of a nice element where there are 3 states, but a simple checkbox would be a litlte overkill for what I want (I'd need two), as the states are: Enabled Default Disabled But I ...
6 votes
2 answers
381 views

Grouping unrelated settings

I'm setting up some options/settings pages for a wordpress theme. There are a lot of options and I think splitting them up will help navigating the different controls. I'm thinking of splitting the ...
5 votes
4 answers
586 views

Best way to allow entry of shop open hours

I am looking for a control or a method such that I can allow the user to enter the working times of a shop for each weekday on a web page. For instance, the working time for Wednesday is: 06:00 AM ...
2 votes
2 answers
311 views

What are some important considerations on picking a continuous vs. discrete volume control?

I notice that some devices on the market have a discrete number of volume levels (e.g. the iPad, the Nintendo DS), whereas others have a continuous slider (or so many volume levels that it amounts to ...
28 votes
3 answers
5k views

Is it acceptable to place video controls at the top of a video?

Is it okay to place video controls at the top of a video? Like so: Mainly considering a full screen video streaming platform like Netflix, I believe this format has some benefits: Subtitles would ...
2 votes
2 answers
193 views

Which of these slider handles have the most affordance?

Working on a filter for desktop, and need to decide which kind of filter handle giveS the user the obvious impression that they can use it as a slider. Any other suggestions besides the above are ...
5 votes
4 answers
5k views

Slider alternative

I am struggling with a client who has a (slightly irrational) dislike of slider controls. I need to provide an alternative that can accommodate 233 selection points, of which maybe 10 are common ...
2 votes
1 answer
102 views

Proper control to select a fixed (text) value or numerical value

I want users to be able to choose to run a simulation that uses either the historical return on a stock or one where they select the numerical average return across the simulations. One way to do this ...
3 votes
3 answers
6k views

Is there a better solution for picker control on iOS

I'm doing a form field on an app and need to included a drop down at the end of some of the text fields. For the android version I'll be using the material design standard as below. for iOS, they ...
1 vote
3 answers
119 views

Help on placing controls

I need some help on placing usercontrols for a financial app I'm working on (It's WPF but it's not relevant) I've created this wireframe I thinks this approach is an old style... and I need some help ...
31 votes
7 answers
11k views

Greyed-Out vs Invisible

What is a good criterion or rule-of-thumb for determining when a control should be greyed-out and when should it be completely invisible?
6 votes
5 answers
4k views

Best practices for direction control in 2d game on mobile

I've been working on a pacman clone in HTML5 for quite a while. (http://pacman.platzh1rsch.ch) One important thing for me was always to keep it responsive, so it would be playable on all different ...
2 votes
2 answers
123 views

Control that changes state automatically and needs to be a part of a form. Any ideas?

I need an example of a control that changes its state automatically once a condition has been satisfied. I need to use such a control to allow admins to set a flag at the user level that would ask ...
2 votes
1 answer
81 views

What is the best way to display hierarchical options?

I am working on an UI that allows user to print name tag for visiting guests, some of the guests have VIP status and some don't. The "Primary Guest" is always a VIP and is included by default. Options ...
2 votes
3 answers
142 views

Is there any conventions for using alternate fonts in user input fields?

My company is proceeding with a branding initiative which involves a branded font. The desire of the external agency is to apply the branded font to all input controls on the page, including text ...
4 votes
1 answer
320 views

What is this sliding window element called?

I've been trying to figure out the name for this element but I've been having trouble finding it. It should snap in three locations: to the top of the screen, to the bottom of the screen, and a 5th of ...
4 votes
2 answers
891 views

The Name of a Full-size Device-independent Start View with tagline only content and downward pointing arrow to access the site?

I don’t know if this is a new trend or just the fact that I’ve not come across this pattern before and it’s actually old, but I’m unable to find anything on it. The story is that you access the root ...
2 votes
2 answers
329 views

Wording for coach-marks pages

Example of coach-marks: While the coach-marks mode is active, what's the clearest way to inform the user that there are more pages with more detailed information? an arrow A button (more, next, etc.)...
3 votes
4 answers
2k views

is horizontal swipe intuitive enough on mobile

Working on a mobile checkout page and would like to know if you'll think its intuitive enough that the user knows there are more products on the right side that could be reached by swiping using the 2 ...
0 votes
2 answers
202 views

"Slider" with relative motion? What is this called?

I'm looking for control that allows relative motion. This isn't what I'm using it for, but you could consider it in the context of a volume control. My requirements: There is a range of acceptable ...
27 votes
9 answers
8k views

Controlling movement direction in isometric view

In an isometric view, floor tiles would be aligned diagonally. On this view, an entity can be moved to adjacent tiles, as illustrated by the green arrows. Since the movement is diagonal (to the ...
0 votes
2 answers
1k views

Multiple choice control for region (6 regions) and countries (all countries in the world)

I have 6 lists with items for each continent (region). For instance, first list is for Europe - Austria, Sweden, Germany etc., second list is for Asia - India etc. third is Africa etc. (six ...
1 vote
1 answer
492 views

How to write text with only 5 buttons?

I have a text field in which I can write lower case and upper case letters, numbers and some special characters (' ', '-', '_', '/', '.'). I have only 1 button that can be pressed right, left, up, ...
2 votes
2 answers
1k views

Showing items in a list with limited space

We have a list of items for a chart legend, and some other lists where there are items hidden below. We have several areas in the UI where we have a constrained space, and items that are hidden below. ...
24 votes
3 answers
8k views

Is there a visual glossary of (Windows) UI controls?

Some days it seems every member of my team calls each control by a different name. Is there a good resource, preferably with images, for what the official name of each control type is? I found a few ...
4 votes
2 answers
850 views

Denoting multiple values for the same checkbox or radiobutton

I have a screen where the user can select multiple students and can click on edit. When he clicks on edit, the following happens - All users have the same value for a field, so that value is shown ...
2 votes
2 answers
146 views

Best way of displaying how crowded your favourite pubs are

I'd like to ask you about the best way of displaying traffic (current situation) in favourite pubs. It should be easy to understand and it should be proper way for a map with places. My current idea ...
1 vote
2 answers
150 views

Can I use a control NOT specified by Material Design?

Material Design has a comprehensive set of components, but no design framework can reasonably hope to cover all widgets. Many of the UX StackExchange questions on Material Design on this site relate ...
1 vote
1 answer
171 views

Bar Graph Controlling - From the Graph Itself or from External Control

I have a bar graph on my page I'm generating from D3. The graph itself looks good. Here's the question: My graph has the following bars: bar1 **************** bar2 ******* ... barn ************ ...
1 vote
3 answers
284 views

Should controls be removed or just greyed out in a tool for power-users where they repeat many times?

This answer by JohnGB on "Greyed-Out vs Invisible" by Joel B kind of touches on the idea, but this question focuses specifically on a moderation tool for power users. Should buttons that don't apply (...
1 vote
1 answer
44 views

Should preferred control come first on mobile device?

I've got a check for pass, and an x for fail. Both controls are positioned next to each other on the right side of the screen. The preferred action is pass so it should be the most natural gesture. My ...
0 votes
2 answers
217 views

How to build a web UI to configure (start/stop) a slide-show?

We just launched a (very) new website on which we strive to give to the user a top-notch immersive experience. Feel free to dig deeper on the site to get used with the mood around there. It seems ...
3 votes
3 answers
584 views

Should I show first page when user sort the grid?

Consider this grid as an example. In grids, should I show the first page when user sort the grid by a column? I think logically I should. But I am not sure from UX point of view.
2 votes
3 answers
3k views

Is there a standard for the positioning of the elevator control buttons?

I've always wondered why elevator control buttons are found where they are. For example, the following image shows the elevator control buttons positioned on the right side. The way I see it, people ...
48 votes
11 answers
32k views

Most User-Friendly Form Fields for Entering Date/Time?

What are the different ways to have fields in an application for date, time, or both? What are the pros and cons for each? The most common seem to be a combination of 2–3 drop-downs, or some form ...
2 votes
3 answers
354 views

Buttons for a process with multiple or optional parts/stages/segments

What is/are the best UI practices for a process that has 2+ stages or optional segments? And how does the amount of stages, and the popularity or likely use affect the layout? For example, if I want ...
3 votes
2 answers
199 views

What is an surface-perpendicular wheel control called?

Please bear with me as I attempt to describe this control (since I don't know its name I wasn't able to google image search for it). It's a physical control, used for adjusting a quantity up or down. ...
3 votes
3 answers
1k views

Differing behaviours of the previous song button

I remembering discovering this functionality as a child when I operated a DVD player and I've never fully understood it. Recently I've been tasked with writing a short tutorial on the basic operations ...
2 votes
3 answers
2k views

What's the best way to show resize handles for objects

I'm working on a web-based editor that lets people include shapes, images and different kind of objects on an interface. Considering this, they must be able to resize the objects, place them anywhere ...
0 votes
3 answers
293 views

Was it wise of Apple to put the full-screen toggle button where the former maximize button was? [closed]

For those of you who don't know, in OS X 10.10 Yosemite, Apple (rather quietly) replaced what was formerly a "maximize window" button with a "make window full-screen" button - in previous releases, ...
5 votes
1 answer
316 views

How to indicate a control's value is pending submission

In the application that I'm currently working on, the user is allowed to make changes to a subset of data from an external data source. Changes are made using basic or custom controls such as Toggle ...

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