Bob Kerns wrote: > My business partner and I have a small disagreement, and I'm trying to > figure out the best way to resolve it.
Six-guns at twenty paces. Oh, wait, it's not that kind of disagreement. Never mind. :-) > The background is this -- we have an app, with some controls which can > be locked. A lock/unlock icon is put next to the lockable controls. > You can long-click the icon, and it brings up a context menu with > several items, including the item for the lock state. > > Currently, it brings up a "Locked [X]" or "Locked [ ]" item -- that > is, a menu item with a checkbox that can be checked or unchecked, and > the lock state is changed accordingly. > > He would like me to change it to reflect the action being taken. I.e. > the menu item would say "Lock" if it is currently unlocked, and > "Unlock" if it is currently locked. If the user sees the state on the main activity (via the icon), then I would go with your business partner's argument -- make the context menu be the verb. The state is represented in one place (screen) and the change is represented in another (menu). Though, to be honest, I'd seriously consider a ToggleButton rather than an icon+context menu. Context menus are not discoverable, so you're presumably relying on users to RTFM to find out how to lock/unlock...and we all know how well RTFM works in practice. The only reason I'd "hide" the lock/unlock operation in a context menu is if I were afraid of accidental toggling, and that might even be better managed with a confirmation AlertDialog or something. And, of course, since I'm no usability guru, take my advice with a suitably-sized grain of salt. -- Mark Murphy (a Commons Guy) http://commonsware.com | http://twitter.com/commonsguy Android Development Wiki: http://wiki.andmob.org -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
