Hi Mattias, I assume your motivation for using the edges stems from Fitts' law, but Fitt's law really isn't about the physical or perceived edges of the monitors, it's about the virtual edges of the user's desktop. The reason the edges and corners are so useful is that the mouse naturally stops there, so the easiest mouse movement - high velocity, minimum aim - results in successful target acquisition with the least amount of effort. Because the physical monitor boundaries aren't translated to the virtual desktop in a multiple-monitor setup, Fitts' law does not apply to those edges at all. Technically, the perceived boundaries do carry over, and users won't *usually* position windows to span that boundary, but I'd argue that there's no more time-saving or usability enhancements to be had at those edges than there is at the edge of a window positioned in the middle of a single monitor (from a Fitts' law perspective). And trying to force boundary behaviour at an OS level in order to get Fi tts' benefits seems likely to feel unnatural, disconcerting, and possibly annoying.
Sticky edges could be a good thing, but I'd approach it from the perspective of the window boundaries, not the monitor boundaries. Slowing down the mouse to help with acquisition of a target is a well-known accessibility trick, but can annoy a lot of users. Stopping the cursor unless a button is held seems even more likely to cause frustration. Another Fitts'-related solution could be to make your target larger. Cheers, Sylvania User Experience Designer -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mattias Konradsson Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2008 4:53 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [IxDA Discuss] Corners, edges and multiple monitors Hi all, Using corners and edges of the screen for different things can as we all know be a great timesaver. However in the day of the multiple monitor we're facing some new problems, screens do not have edges on all sides. So I'm designing an application that uses the edges for some global navigation (left, right, up, down on respective edge). When you hit an edge there's an visual marker along that edge and if you click it activates the navigation. I want it to be useful even though I have multiple monitors, what do I do? The first thing I thought about was something like "sticky edges" where the cursor wouldn't cross the screen boundary unless you hold the left mouse button down. Not immediately intuitive but perhaps a behavior you could teach. Unfortunately that is more of a os-level feature and I'm not sure if I can implement it. The second solution might be to let the user overshoot the edge, but still show the markers and if you click it activates the navigation. So if I have a monitor to the right, drag over the cursor to right screen, the right edge marker would show. This of course becomes a problem though if you don't want to navigate but simply work in that screen. You make right clicking hide the marker and the make the right screen the "active one" (going outside it's edges will activate the markers) Clicking the right mouse button will however in most cases also bring up a context menu so it's slightly annoying. Is there a good solution to this problem? Best regards -- Mattias Konradsson ution to this problem? Best regards -- Mattias Konradsson ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
