Tagged Questions

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19
votes
4answers
904 views

Best way to handle long URLs

I have a list that contains long, in terms of character count, links and I am wondering if my solution is a good solution in terms of UX. My solution is that if the link is over 80 characters, then ...
2
votes
4answers
145 views

Why is the user experience of licence agreements always so terrible?

Why is it that the user experience of licence agreements always seems to be intentionally unpleasant and difficult? The font is nearly always too small. The text is dense and difficult to scan. ...
2
votes
3answers
456 views

Standard for entering latitude/longitude in text fields

Is there a standard for users to enter latitude and longitude into two text fields? Decimal degrees is probably easiest, as it can be entered in one single fell swoop. The standard for geocaching ...
11
votes
5answers
2k views

Modern approach to textarea (or alternatives)

For a simple text editor for longer articles I am looking for advice and inspiration on programming/designing a minimalistic and modern textarea (which does not necessarily have to use the tag) ...
15
votes
2answers
218 views

Slanted cursor+background for italic text?

In most applications that I'm familiar with, a text cursor in insertion mode is universally represented as a vertical blinking bar: As you can see, for some italic letters this creates visual ...
-4
votes
0answers
48 views

Which color scheme is used on phpjs.org website in code textareas? [closed]

here is the screenshot from this website: http://phpjs.org/functions/array/ I really like that color combinations and would like to find the equivalent for sublime text 2 or some other editor or at ...
3
votes
4answers
93 views

Multi-column articles

I just came across this article by Paul Lewis. The first thing I noticed was the multi-column layout. It's great that people are trying to break the usage of overused templates for articles/blogs, ...
1
vote
1answer
35 views

Best way to divvy up screen space in pictorial article mobile app?

I'm working on an iPhone app that gives users access to image-heavy articles. We want to showcase the images--they're like the bread and butter of the app, so we're opting for a kind of scrolling ...
7
votes
2answers
149 views

Combination of text and drag and drop search

I am designing a filter function for a software application (not a web site) which contains multiple input controllers. A text input is used in combination with a drop zone for files (for drag and ...
3
votes
1answer
152 views

Grid text alignment rules

I was wondering if someone has come across rules used by web designers for text alignment in a grid. I was observing that majority of text is aligned towards left, but financial figures with ...
13
votes
4answers
2k views

Is left-aligned text generally preferable over centered text? [duplicate]

I am currently reviewing the usability of some internal reports. One thing which strikes me as odd is that all the text is centered. I always prefer left-aligned text. But apart from my personal ...
7
votes
5answers
370 views

Zebra striping for body text?

The general consensus is that zebra striping a table makes it a little easier for people to keep track of which row they're on...but is this reduction of cognitive taxes only for table rows? I at ...
3
votes
3answers
92 views

Styling Labels for a Line-of-Business Web Application

I'm looking for some guidance on how labels should be styled for a data entry web application. My client feels that the labels detract from the user interface where I feel they provide necessary ...
4
votes
2answers
102 views

Should i line wrap my emails?

When my coworkers send their emails, some would diligently line wrap the body text into lines that are at most, say 78 characters wide, others would use no line break in a paragraph, and the ...
6
votes
2answers
90 views

Which one to use in printing: CW or CCW rotated vertical text?

What are your opinions, which of the following text are easier to read? CCW text in one row CW text in one row CCW text in two rows CW text in two rows And what if the writing is on a vertical ...
5
votes
4answers
259 views

Is is better to place text above or below icons?

This UX.SE question discusses the use of text above vs. below images & videos, and in general the answers say below. I'm thinking that it must be different with icons, since their purpose is ...
16
votes
3answers
409 views

Usability of vertical text

I am playing with ideas for a menu that I want to add to some site designs and was wondering: How usable is vertical text in any portion of a site (specifically menus)? For example You can have ...
7
votes
2answers
563 views

How to design usable web site terms & conditions?

What are some guidelines and examples for designing usable legal terms for web sites? I know that most users don't read it, but are there innovative ways to improve readability and presentation of ...
7
votes
3answers
491 views

How to better name modal buttons “Cancel Request” (submit), “Cancel” (cancel)? [duplicate]

One modal-box asks the user wether they want to really cancel the request. Now there are two buttons (submit) and (cancel), but how to best name them? All other modals use text like "proceed" (submit) ...
3
votes
2answers
96 views

Maximum usability for purely text-based menus?

I'm designing a 'retro-style' video game, in which the user has to navigate relatively complex (around six or seven options on the screen at a time) text-based menus very often (once every minute, ...
5
votes
2answers
132 views

How to calculate the best width of a text element

I am developing a visual editor where the nodes in the editor can contain text. The size of the text can vary, and can contain any character. Since it is important for me to minimize the size of the ...
19
votes
7answers
738 views

Should all button text start with a verb?

I'm reading The Grammar of Interactivity on UXBooth and finds it quite interesting. However, the article quotes David Hamill who said (or wrote): Buttons are for actions, like “Get a quote,” ...
-1
votes
1answer
95 views

Would the users be able to understand “emp” as “employee” if I have space constraints? [closed]

I have to show employee status in a place but I have a space constraint. Will the users be able to understand "emp" as "employee"?
8
votes
4answers
250 views

Relationship between font-size and width of container

Are there any studies done which tell us the relationship between the font size and the optimal width of the container they are in? For example, 12px font size is going to be too small in a container ...
7
votes
4answers
428 views

Context sensitive help for wordy user preferences

Current UI Here is a poorly designed panel on a preferences dialog for the open source audio editor 'Audacity'. I'd like to do something about it. How it got that way In the past the text beside ...
9
votes
3answers
203 views

Usefulness of on-site text resize tools

I'm not sure what to call them, but anyone know of research on the effectiveness of including the ability to resize text onscreen via a buttons/toggle. I mean the "aA" button you still sometimes see ...
0
votes
1answer
124 views

How to create text-shadow in Axure [closed]

My Goal Im using Axure for prototyping and I've created widgets which reflect my application UI. One thing I would like to achieve is the ability to add text-shadow onto certain elements, without ...
1
vote
2answers
136 views

What is the best way to display linked text?

I always was curious about the following question: What is the best UX way to present a text that act as information and also as a link (for example to more detailed information). I always ...
1
vote
3answers
217 views

Text layout in forms [closed]

I'm in the process of creating some design guidelines for a big form based application. The application has its fair share of "this information is vital to the users and can't be missed". I've seen ...
3
votes
1answer
123 views

Equal Opportunities Button

I'm currently designing a form at the end of an application process to ask potential candidates to complete an Equal Opportunities form. (We are required by law to provide this) However I'm trying to ...
5
votes
1answer
112 views

What is the optimal vertical margin between paragraphs?

Here on ux.StackExchange they have gaps that are a bit smaller than one line height (~88%), but I’ve read a few times that 100% of the line height provides best readability because it continues the ...
41
votes
11answers
3k views

Is clockwise or counter-clockwise rotated text easier to read?

When rotating text with css, should it be rotated clockwise or counter-clockwise? Is one more readable than the other? Counter Clockwise:     —    ...
0
votes
2answers
189 views

How to layout an article with illustrations?

I need to right an article/tutorial that has illustrations. The illustrations are not necessary, but are nice to have. They will help visually inclined people or people who just hate reading. How ...
3
votes
2answers
527 views

What are user friendly ways to display XML for reading & scanning

I'm looking for examples and advice for displaying XML in a user readable way. The user does not edit the xml, but is just looking for information inside of the xml. I'm designing an interface for ...
20
votes
7answers
661 views

Why are software EULAs typically displayed in a tiny non-adjustable box with lots of scrolling?

From my experience whenever I have to install a piece of software I'm presented an end-user license agreement (EULA) in the following way: Specifically the EULA is a long text in legalese and I ...
22
votes
11answers
2k views

Should a full-sentence HTML link include the period in the linked text?

In HTML, if a full sentence is used for a link, should its terminal punctuation (i.e., period) be included in the linked text? Consider these two examples: <a href="about:blank">Watch the ...
2
votes
3answers
176 views

How to logically group textual elements for readability?

If you have text elements that are all the same color (ie Black), what is the optimal way to logically group text for readability? Should you change the text color for title/subject headings? Would ...
5
votes
2answers
170 views

How should I format question-response sections in a document?

I work on proposals that need to be formatted in question-response sections. Currently, we use different colors to distinguish between questions and responses. However, members of my team want to make ...
33
votes
3answers
2k views

What's the deal with Windows 8 elements with ALL CAPS?

Here's how Microsoft new Windows Azure portal elements look like: and that seems to be "Windows 8 style". Visual Studio 2012 also has plenty of user elements in ALL CAPS. For dozens of years ALL ...
0
votes
2answers
154 views

Table user readability/clarity

I've got a table that displays data to users. Each line of data can have a report attached to it. The 2nd cell in the table is used to show users if there is a report present, if there is you get an ...
2
votes
1answer
228 views

Should web app text be justified?

Are there any studies on the use of justified text in web apps? How does justification affect screen legibility? Example of justified text:
3
votes
1answer
1k views

What is the best practice for data table cell content alignment

We are currently working on a windows based application where users capture data. Some data is captured in a table where other data is captured in text blocks. Im currently faced with the dilemma of ...
2
votes
2answers
84 views

UI for audio synced with text

I'm working on an outlining application that syncs items in the outline to recorded audio. The ideas is that you can play the audio from a specific place in your document, or get to an item from a ...
3
votes
1answer
749 views

Alerts, notifications, (status) messages - looking for real practical examples [closed]

Are there somewhere real practical examples of texts for alerts, notifications and status messages? I thought of something like a library where you could search for an area and find ideas and ...
9
votes
3answers
183 views

Collapsible content vs. static text for FAQ/Information page

I am designing a simple FAQ/information page. We already have one, which you can view here: http://merchantfuse.com/site/general As you can see we use collapsible content boxes. However I am ...
9
votes
8answers
552 views

How can I distinguish two different types of buttons, without using labels everywhere?

I'm developing an application to count traffic at intersections. There will be two different types of buttons: one to count trucks ("lkw" is the german abbreviation for a truck) one to count cars ...
1
vote
1answer
147 views

Easy way to let every-day users embed images, videos, audio files, etc. inside text?

I need to let users embed videos, images, audio files, etc. inside text. For right now, these videos will come from urls, but they might one day point to videos/images/audio files stored on the server ...
6
votes
4answers
1k views

Choosing high contrast text color (in relation to background color) dynamically

My application has an area with some number of controls. Each control's background color expresses a state of some sort. The controls are also numbered via some text in their foreground. For ...
19
votes
6answers
512 views

Why doesn't pasting (Ctrl-V or Command-V) default to unformatted text?

Like most people, I use copy and paste a lot in my day to day life, but I can't think of a single time that I have wanted to copy the formatting over with the content. Instead, I always seem to have ...
4
votes
5answers
489 views

Is “chars” a universally understandable abbreviation for “characters”?

I'm trying to limit instructional text in a form. Can I shorten "75 characters" to "75 chars" and have it be clear to a fairly inexperienced Web user?

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