Questions tagged [metaphor]
A metaphor is a set of user interface visuals, actions and procedures that exploit specific knowledge that users already have of other domains. The purpose of the interface metaphor is to give the user instantaneous knowledge about how to interact with the user interface.
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What’s the origin of the metaphor “cloud”?
Today we use the term “cloud” without thinking about it. We use it mainly in terms of storage online, far away and unreachable. We can’t plug in a USB memory in the cloud to download data. We plug the ...
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Common way to put delete "x" link for tag input
Does anybody know why it is a common way to put "x" link to delete a tag on the right side of the tag?
I got an opinion which makes sense, that placing "x" on the left could help with quick removal ...
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What to call an area where old items are stored
I have an area in an app where old items are stored, using a 'locked' metaphor. Items can be unlocked, and brought back, but after they're locked, they are sent to a larger list of locked items and ...
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Why don't air travel booking sites use the "shopping cart" UI concept?
I am working on an Airline site refactor, and I realized that the abandonment after searching and selecting a flight is very high.
I think for returning visitors it would be nice having a way to ...
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Which direction gives the best sensation of progress?
I'm used to see that the progress bars fill from left to right (and in some cases from right to left in rtl languages). However, in a case where you follow a step by step that will always end in a ...
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What is the origin of the power icon?
What is the origin of the power button? Is it supposed to resemble a physical switch?
Was it originally skeuomorphic UI design? Did it every move/turn or provide feedback?
download bmml source &...
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How to interlink sibling websites?
Backstory: I am building a non-profit website that will visualise public spending and there is a for-profit sibling that will generates revenue for the non-profit by selling the visualisation tool for ...
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Is there a better metaphor for a single-use checkbox?
I'm using a checkbox for a setting in a mobile app that has a one-time effect: that is, you turn it on, it has the effect once, and then resets itself to off. I'd like to know if there's a better ...
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What is a good UI metaphor for switching roles user plays in the application?
I am building a conference/tradeshow application where a user can assume multiple roles within the application and within a particular conference. For example a user can be an attendee, and have ...
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"Other/Miscellaneous" Icon Metaphor
We're designing an interface for task managament app for tablet and mobile app and there are two main category with "Waiting Tasks" and "Other Tasks". I once used three dot (...) icon metaphor for "...
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Is there a widely-understood visual metaphor for privacy?
On our profile page, we're giving users choices among three privacy settings for each field.
The checkbox choices will not appear until a user highlights a particular field, but we do want to convey (...
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Is there any good idiom for 'real time' or 'live' data? [duplicate]
The floppy disk is a good idiom for 'save', is there any good one for 'real time' or 'live' data?
I haven't found much on the interweb:
'fast text', this is meant for IM
A LOT of clocks in ...
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