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.
2
votes
0answers
34 views
Why does the Xbox controller have non-symmetrical analog sticks?
The image below shows the controllers of the three eighth-generation consoles (Xbox One, PS4, Wii U).
As you can see, both the PS4 and Wii U controllers have symmetrical analog sticks, which seems ...
13
votes
5answers
1k views
Appended and Prepended Checkbox: when can I use this?
A was taking a look at Twitter Bootstrap, and, looking at the Prepended and Appended checkboxes, just cant figure out where, why and when I can use it.
Can someone give me a good example?
4
votes
3answers
84 views
Who should be able to pause/restart/quit the game in a turn based game?
I have a game that consists of players making moves in turn, on a single console (Xbox 360).
Up to 16 players can play in one game. The xbox can have up to 4 controllers associated/connected to one ...
0
votes
2answers
95 views
The best practices for a rating bar/slider/buttons
I need to make a rating scale input device that satisfies the following requirements:
1) Each value must be associated with a number to the user.
2) It must be immediately clear that this thing ...
1
vote
3answers
116 views
Android widget : how to tell users that a similar looking control does not perform same?
In my android application I am developing a desktop widget that mirrors many important tasks supported by my application. This widget contains two buttons that mirroring their counterparts in the app ...
8
votes
4answers
231 views
Is the middle power option 50% or 60%?
A friend of mine has a blender with 6 control selections: One off position, and five power settings in order of less to more power. Example below:
A discussion has erupted over whether or not the ...
6
votes
2answers
93 views
Group of controls depending on value of combo box
In a UI, I get the user to make a selection from a combo box. This selection influences what other controls will need to be shown. There are also other controls that need to be shown, independently of ...
3
votes
4answers
137 views
iPad full screen in landscape mode - which side to put on my controls panel?
I have an app which helps the user to design a full screen sized postcard. The result is exactly what the user sees on the screen.
Because a lot of users scan things in an F pattern, I assume that ...
1
vote
2answers
105 views
Do users need 3 ways to change sound volume on their computer?
Virtually every video/audio software has volume controls. Why is software control needed if there exist two other controls: operating system and hardware volume controls?
Is it better to remove ...
5
votes
2answers
57 views
Choice Box or Tabs for multiple contents in a view [duplicate]
I am going to display a small view in my application that contains contents to be picked. The contents are sorted in an undetermined quantity of categories.
Would it be preferred to sort them in ...
27
votes
2answers
1k views
Why did Microsoft put close and minimize buttons on the Office splash screens?
Starting with Office 2010, Microsoft put a minimize and close button on the upper right corner of the splash screens of the various Office apps. But, the splash screen is up for such a short time, ...
104
votes
15answers
7k 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 ...
13
votes
6answers
518 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?
13
votes
7answers
780 views
How to incorporate a “never” value on a slider?
I have a slider in a web page (similar to this one) to control the the duration of how long to keep an item before it is removed:
The range of values goes from 0 to 90, with the value 0 being used ...
5
votes
1answer
73 views
Best Practices in keyboard navigation of JavaScript Controls?
Apparently "best practice" when creating DHTML widgets, such as menus etc., is to allow users to navigate to the widget using the tab key, and navigate within the widget using arrow keys. This follows ...
7
votes
8answers
482 views
Is there ever a good use case for a software rotary knob (dial)?
I love physical dials and knobs, they are great for adjusting something just the right amount without looking at it. They are even great for controlling an absolute value like volume because they stop ...
2
votes
5answers
126 views
3-state control on/off/suspended
I’m creating a prototype for a system which will give the user to control a specific feature in the system by switching it on and off. To control the feature we have a 3-state control:
on
off
...
5
votes
3answers
98 views
Select numerical value with +/- buttons or manually entering?
The design I'm working on has the user assigning a value to each Item, then if the value is more than 1, a second dependent attribute appears (as shown). I want the numbers to be large and not default ...
6
votes
3answers
139 views
What is the best way to handle multiple To and From ranges?
Our users need to specify multiple ranges of quantities and specify a price for each range. I can't post an image or I would show this concept mocked-up.
My question is: Imagine the user is able ...
9
votes
2answers
100 views
Borders editing control usability
I need a simple and intuitive control for editing rectangle borders.
At the moment I have the following:
At the left - preview box and current border selector at the same time. User can click on ...
7
votes
2answers
165 views
TreeTable as a flexible condition/filter editor
I face the task to create condition/filter editor every time I need to develop a data/request/event processing system. As usual, there is no universal one and only solution.
Google shows a lot of ...
2
votes
3answers
118 views
What is the preferred way to toggle fullscreen vs fullscreen with panels on iPhone/iPad?
I have a full screen iPad app that deals with graphics. The user has full screen as canvas, with extra controls added along the bottom and right side of the screen.
I'm looking for an intuitive way ...
2
votes
2answers
76 views
Best option for data grid records that each can have different multiple choices
Below is a mock up of the screen, and I'm not sure of the best way to do the Delay Reasons in this case.
Each service can have multiple delay reasons and each service can have different delay ...
7
votes
4answers
2k views
Timezone selection best practices
I am looking for ways to design a UI where the user selects their timezone. I would like to avoid having a map as that can be slow people down on small screen devices. I currently have 2 options:
...
3
votes
1answer
66 views
App menu created from keywords
I have application which allow users to select video and play it. I have for each video few keywords and with help of WordNet I created tree from these keywords. So now user can go from generally ...
8
votes
2answers
137 views
What's the official name of concept of input boxes with tags?
I'm looking for an implementation and the (official) name of this kind of control where it's a inputbox where we can add multiple tags into it. By example, it is used in JIRA like this capture (and ...
4
votes
4answers
160 views
Controls on moving controls?
It hit me today when driving home from work turning right in a highly busy crossing. I wanted to lower the music volume but couldn’t find the control without looking. On previous cars I’ve owned, the ...
12
votes
9answers
802 views
How do you show a locked slider?
I have an application with a slider, but I need to be able to lock the slider, and have it clear to the user that it is locked - simply disabling it is not an option. By locked I mean that you are ...
4
votes
2answers
78 views
Tap or Drag to mark a specific point?
The scenario
We have a screen with a view containing many small symbols. The user will have to choose a single element. In order to find the correct element, he'll have to pinch and pan. As you can ...
3
votes
2answers
222 views
View refresh frequency
My application displays data that can be periodically changed. Changes follow 5-10 times per second. I have to avoid so frequent updates to increase application performance. But I have to add some ...
4
votes
3answers
186 views
I need ideas to improve this timeout control
I'm getting ready to publish a page of real-time stock-option data. Problem is I'm not so sure any more of many controls that I used to be in love with.
The first of these now-doggish controls is ...
5
votes
3answers
220 views
How to express in two or three letters how a column is to be sorted
On a just-now-coming-alive web page, I have two columns: change and change-percent. In the headers of the two columns, I want to give the user a small control so he can toggle between sorting the ...
5
votes
4answers
239 views
Version Control for Help Files
What is the best way to have version control when creating complex help files with new updates and versions coming out quarterly or so?
How does one best go about versioning the Help file?
...
2
votes
2answers
169 views
Is there a proper name for the accordion-like stacked panels?
Essentially, it's a collection of panels, stacked towards the top. Each can be expanded or collapsed on its own. When a header is expanded, the headers below it "stick" to its bottom. This is in ...
3
votes
4answers
106 views
Selecting Multiple Ranges
We have a UI requirement, where users need to be able to create several ranges from 0-1000.
Without overlap (including overlap from other parent records)
So, parent 1, has range 0-10, 20-30, 50-55.
...
6
votes
4answers
274 views
Control to select (not open) a file on windows
I am designing a Windows application that has a dialog that requires the user to select a file, similar to the way you would with an <input type="file"> on the web. However, I cannot think of a ...
3
votes
4answers
208 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 ...
3
votes
2answers
129 views
Is removing the video control playbar a dark pattern?
Lately, I've been finding more and more videos (mostly those with marketing purposes) that are don't have the so called "playbar", ie. the timeline control that allows you to jump inside the video to ...
1
vote
5answers
232 views
Speed vs Quality UI Pattern
I'm trying to come up with a good disposition of UI elements to help depict Function Speed vs Quality.
Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Are the Labels Right / Informative Enough?
Is the ...
6
votes
4answers
170 views
Hide controls on a touch enabled device and only show them if someone uses a mouse?
We're building a responsive web site and we're having a discussion about how to display controls on a map. The theory is that people with touch-enabled devices do not need to see zoom sliders because ...
2
votes
4answers
287 views
Combining email and phone inputs into a single text field
Let's say you want to combine both email and phone input into a single text field because you require either or, not both. What's the best way would you approach this? As far as making it clear ...
27
votes
11answers
4k 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 ...
5
votes
3answers
291 views
What would this widget be called?
What is this control that is used to select an item in this screenshot called?
This is also in the latest Facebook for Android update. What is it called?
18
votes
2answers
729 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 ...
10
votes
9answers
482 views
Do users like choice? How much should I give them?
I built a photo slideshow web page as an exercise for myself.
One thing I found myself doing was adding a Settings button. Clicking this reveals a little settings pane that lets a user choose between ...
3
votes
1answer
228 views
slider vs. select box / dropdown
I've got a web app with two related UIs for adjusting a value. The first allows the user to add or subtract up to 100% of the amount. It's for an estimate, so rough ranges (e.g. every 10%) would be ...
5
votes
2answers
336 views
What's the recommended way to use “question mark” icon?
I develop a desktop application, and I'd like to add a "question mark" icon besides one of the textbox (that describes the meaning of that textbox).
My question is what the common way to use the ...
0
votes
0answers
34 views
Keyboard support for dropdown widget [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Patterns for keyboard accessible drop down lists
I have developed an html/javascript drop down widget. At the moment I want to enhance the keyboard support for this ...
13
votes
4answers
396 views
Should radio options be displayed vertically or horizontally?
For Example:
Results must match () All () Any () None Of the search criteria
vs
Results must match () All of the search criteria
() Any
() None
The ...
15
votes
9answers
2k views
What's the best way to present date of birth form fields?
I am building a form that requires users to enter in their DOB. What is the best practice for this? I have identified 3 basic options:
Free Text Field Users are able to enter day, month and year in ...
