Hot answers tagged design-patterns
43
People don't generally use hierarchical structures 'in the real world' -- it seems to be something that has been forced upon them, a technical remnant of the past.
What needs to be understood is the way that people recognise and organise things. Our brains don't work in a hierarchical way (without generating a lot of heat). Instead, we recognise things by ...
20
There are several problems with trees:
A tree is a single taxonomy. This requires the user's mental model
to match the software developer's mental model of the domain.
Navigating with trees requires high-precision mouse accuracy to
expand a tree without selecting the branch. This is also very
difficult to manage with touch interfaces.
Navigating trees ...
19
I would go with a check mark on the left side.
Reason being: Since the list is in English, the user will be reading from left to right. The length of the text need not be the same, leading to uneven right end. But the starting position on the left will be the same. Makes for easier scanning.
10
Google doesn't always make the best or consistent UX decisions. Their Google Voice application (which I assume is created by an entirely different team) has "New" and "Refresh" buttons at bottom-left corner.
But I agree with you, putting the "+" in the top right corner is poor usability for frequent-user of the app. However, it does make the button ...
8
What I've learned from observing some mobile usability tests: Don't care too much about "thumb hotspots".
Which areas of a smartphone display are more accessible differentiates a lot from user's individual abilities and habits. As there are:
Individual phone holding: Some users are holding their phones more at the bottom, others at the phone's mid. The ...
8
If you break down the action in smaller steps, you can see the answer.
Example: Single clicking selects an item and double clicking opens/executes the item. But, when you double click, you are essentially also performing the single click and hence, you see the item being selected first before opening it.
In tap and hold, you are tapping the item which is ...
6
First, the guidelines of Microsoft about messages is really informative and helpful.
One example for a confirmation message, where several options are possible, is the duplicate file copying message (see below). See how each option is associated with its respectable consequences, and it's relatively easy to choose between them.
In general, allowing users ...
5
I've seen this also happen in windows (see screenshot), where the main option would be marked in bold.
While rk.'s answer is a very compelling one (I know I was convinced!), my initial guess was that it exposes to the user the full array of options that is available. An important part of that is explicitly naming the main option. This is helpful since not ...
4
Perception: A new market for low complexity ("entertainy") applications has developed - explosively. Thus, even with non-diminishing tree use, it diminishes in percentage and plays less of a role in discusison of "modern" UI and UX changes.
Alternatives: One feature of a hierarchy - fast locatability - has been largely replaced by instant search. We now ...
3
Single Page is probably the most apt term.
If you go to Awwwards.com (http://www.awwwards.com/search?search%5Btags%5D%5Bsingle-page%5D=single-page&search%5Bsotd%5D=1&search%5Bhonorable%5D=1) you'll see they call it "single page" and then provide 800+ examples. Enjoy!
2
I've approached this problem, by not indenting, in some situations, and using arrows to indicate which comment replies to which comment.
Here's an example, from an open source discussion system I'm developing:
Here's a link to the above example, in real life: http://www.debiki.com/-71cs1#post-116979
(I also wrote a blog article about this:
...
2
Few thoughts:
I would like to use 2 buttons at most.
Encourage user to continue on the flow instead of cancelling. Because of that reason I have kept "Continue" more visible than Cancel.
Regarding how many are too many.. I would say 2 are too many so try to keep the option down to 1 to the levels possible. Even when you have two, pick one as "Recommended ...
2
A check icon on the beginning reads as a bulleted list - an unordered list of elements.
An aligned check icon at the end gives the impression that it's a checklist - a list, likely ordered, of things that must be accomplished (and possibly have been accomplished, since they are checked off).
Which are you trying to provide? An unordered bulleted list, ...
1
I will start by questioning the thumb zone depicted in the first image. iPhone is specially pre 5 (which the book will be talking about) is small. A normal adult will be able to cover 3 corners - two bottom and top depending on which hand they are holding the phone in, if not all 4, easily.
In terms of reach, I will classify the zones in tearms of easy of ...
1
rarely? I see them all the time.
Half the windows I have open right now contain tree views, and half the other half are either console windows or this web browser loaded with SE.
Tree views can be very useful, depending on context. It's just that ever more people seem to think they're "outdated" and try to find twisted ways to do things differently for no ...
1
My take is that the most valuable thing a tree does is this:
Current thing
Details of current thing
More details
More details...
Another unrelated thing
Its details
Amazing details
More details
That is, it lets you see the detail of several different things at once.
IMHO - this is not a very useful attribute. Most of the time, you get better UX by ...
1
I agree with others here in that search and tags have replaced hierarchical conceptual models in many cases because they have real advantages both on the content creation side and the content consumption side.
But I must point out that tree hierarchies are hardly obsolete as conceptual models that are surfaced in UIs. Often it is the right conceptual model ...
1
One likely reason is the simple fact that the experience surrounding emails involves a more even balance between consumption and action.
Consider Google+ and Google Now, where the controls are mainly inline with the associated content, as well as Chrome where you're primarily using the controls that the websites' interfaces provide. The actions are unique ...
1
I can think of two solutions.
1. Create space for creating or editing an item. Fold out space inside the timeline, or create a modal on top.
download bmml source – Wireframes created with Balsamiq Mockups
2. Put the UI for editing the advanced options in a modal that is triggered from one of the options in the context menu. This creates a bit ...
1
This is a form of gamification, too. As users will want to reach 100% completion, like in a game, they will strive to complete their set tasks. Especially if there is some form of reward at the end of the 100%. http://www.dropbox.com do this especially well where they reward their users with extra storage if they complete set tasks and get to 100% ...
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