Part of our application allows users to essentially "turn a knob" to crank up some effect. Internally, the numbers go from 0 to 15, but externally the numbers don't matter much. We want to maintain the thought of "cranking it up" (ie, like turning up a volume knob) and our users are not tech-savy. The only real constraint is that there's some "off" position of the "knob".
With all that said, what control should I use given that it:
- has some start and end position
- has continuous values
- has a numerical value that our users don't care about
For a physical device, this is usually why I'd want a knob. If you think about a radio, I don't necessarily care if the volume is at "6" or "9" as long as it's "loud enough" to me. The same thing applies here, the users want to be able to turn up the effect, but don't care what exact number it goes to.
Is the answer just a slider? Is there a better/more intuitive control?
UPDATE 1:
I don't want to use a knob because it's not an intuitive control on a computer screen. How do you rotate a knob? click and drag?