Nick, I take that as a personal attack. You replied to me personally and I did the same. If you do it publicly, I'll do the same. Part of being an Expert is going against the North American-Mindset and setting Trends based on Tests, Human Factors, Holistic Design, Best Practices and Personal Conviction. I will never back down from anything based on my Findings and Non-Biased Logical and Scientific Conclusions. I will ALWAYS have a reason for the Logic of how I think and for what my Users are saying and implying in my Studies.
On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 9:31 PM, Nick Gassman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: > I sent this to Brett earlier rather than the list. He did reply to me, > but I'll leave it to him whether he wants to forward it to the list. > > I'm getting really confused by what shows up on the list, what on the > webpage, and wotnot. I sent this post earlier from the webpage, but it > hasn't shown up yet. > > Brett, I'm surprised that in your previous post you would say > > 'But regardless of tests, for the reasons that I listed, the chances > for disrupted usability and flow is much greater when the 'Previous' > button is on the left..' > > I'm assuming that you are basing your recommendations on testing and > research rather than personal opinion. > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > Having conducted multiple studies and tests on this very process, the > 'Next' > > button must be on the left side while the 'Previous' button needs to be > on > > the right. > > There are several reasons as to why this is but I will focus on the 2 > main > > ones. > > 1. One thing I hate when entering serial numbers for a new software is > when > > I have to manually press the 'Tab' button rather then the cursor > > automatically 'tabbing' to the right. Many developers who are sharp > enough > > to pick up on this have automated the process. This being said, some > > developers have automated the process to 'tab' to the next button or > field. > > If the last field that precedes the 'Next' button is completed, the > 'Next' > > button is the most logical action and feature in regards to keeping a > > consistent flow for the user to complete the task at hand. There is > nothing > > more aggravating then having a process flow being interrupted. > > I agree for that circumstance. There are a couple of considerations in > reply. > > 1) Tab order doesn't have to follow visual order, as someone else > pointed out. In html you can specify the tab order, which you would > sometimes do differently for users with disabilities. I think a key > point is that you are specifying a visual layout here to cater for > people not using the visual cues. > > 2) Leading on from that, is everyone like you? The design you go for > would differ for different audiences and purposes. If you are > registering some software for developers, you might well find that > most people tab. If you are installing a kindergarten programme, you > might well find that most users don't tab, and are confused by the > cursor jumping to the next field without them noticing. In years of > observation of customers using ba.com, I do know that relatively few > our customers tab. > > > 2. Users who are Net savvy tend to be quick with their left pinky finger > > (for 'Tab') their right pinky finger (for 'Enter') followed by their > right > > then left thumb with both pointer fingers locked on the 'F' and 'J' > buttons > > for bearing. > > These users who use the keyboard extensively rather then relying solely > on > > the mouse know how to rip through form fields using the 'Tab' and Space > Bar. > > If the cursor does not automatically tab to another field upon completing > a > > previous field, the user rapidly 'Tabs' with the left pinky finger and > has > > adapted to a learned behaviour. Upon reaching the first button in order > > after completing all required fields, the user is still in 'Tab' and > Space > > Bar mode and will automatically Tab to the button and hammer the Space > Bar > > to proceed with the task. > > Placing 'Previous' before the 'Next' or 'Submit' buttons breaks user flow > > and I strongly recommend against it. > > Erm, is that a different point, or the same one? I would regard myself > as relatively savvy, and do use the tab key, but don't know what > you're using F and J for, and haven't noticed other people using them. > Again, the point is to design for your audience, and there's a danger > in too broad generalisations. > > There's another consideration also. On travel commerce websites, the > primary purpose (both business-wise and for visitors) is to sell > tickets. I think it's unlikely that even ardent tabbers would tab > their way through an entire page of flight lists, options, information > links etc. On such a page, the button to confirm your choice and > progress to the next page is typically to the right, indicating > progress. If that's what users of such sites experience the most, then > it would be risky to change the order of buttons on less-used pages > that submit forms. I think the appearance and positioning of actions > buttons on a website is something that is important to have a degree > of internal consistency. > > If you take tabbing out of the equation, we've found that the > visibility/obviousness of the continue button (or any button) is > probably more important than the exact positioning. Luke in his book > advises against the use of red buttons due to potential confusion with > error messaging, but I've never seen this happen in practice, and red > stands out the most. I'd also caution against the use of red and green > as contrasting colours, as red/green is the most common form of colour > blindness (I'm red/green blind). > > It's an interesting discussion. > * Nick Gassman - Usability and Standards Manager - http://ba.com * > * I vote for reply-to to go to the list* > ________________________________________________________________ > 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 > -- Brett Lutchman Web Slinger. ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... 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