User Experience Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for user experience researchers and experts. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
Here's a screenshot of apple.stackexchange.com:
The button "active" is decorated in a way which looks like an iPhone's slider control. The first thing that comes to mind is that it's draggable (but it isn't).
Is the "apple slider button" using the correct affordance?
Yes, it is using the right affordance (to be consistent with OSX Lion).
This is slightly confusing implementation of what I think they are trying to achieve. I agree, it does look like the slider/switch control used in iOS. Sad news is, this is what OSX Lion is going to look like. They are changing the look of these "tabbed" controls. See below:
At this point, I agree it's a little confusing, considering that iOS uses a similar styling for their slider controls. Only time will tell if this was the right move on Apple's part.
As far as apple.stackexchange goes, they are doing the right thing by reflecting the upcoming Apple interface in their own design.
Update: As Jin pointed out, Apple reversed this design decision in the latest build of OSX Lion (thankfully). You can read about it here. It appears that apple.stackexchange will also be changing it to reflect this decision.
The importance of user feedback in action! :)
It's a list of links so, no, the slider UI is completely wrong for that particular interaction.
I'd use something like iTunes does for its song list options.
If Apple are going this way with Lion, they should read their own HIG. The Metaphor here (and the usual name for the gadget) is a Radio button, where one pushes a single button to select the item. Twas ever thus! Selecting an item by pushing it, to have it protrude is illogical.
