Hi, Chris. I still use the icon view for *some* folders even though I have been using Windows since the late 1980's (version 1 of Windows was several years late which set the scene for many following releases<g> - I had a brief encounter with version 2, but Windows really didn't take off until 3.1 came around in the early 90's).
Folders shortcuts, applications, important files and similar do benefit from the icon treatment simply because of Fitts' Law - bigger things are easier to hit (he actually said more than that, but we need not go into the detail). However, I have no idea why it is the default except possibly that big icons are less intimidating, as well as being easier to click. (The thing that drives me crazy is that in Vista, some of the folders that I expect to have icons in them spontaneously change to a different display format from time to time<g>. I hope they've sorted this in Windows 7!) Regards, William Hudson Syntagm Ltd Design for Usability UK 01235-522859 World +44-1235-522859 US Toll Free 1-866-SYNTAGM mailto:[email protected] http://www.syntagm.co.uk skype:williamhudsonskype Syntagm is a limited company registered in England and Wales (1985). Registered number: 1895345. Registered office: 10 Oxford Road, Abingdon OX14 2DS. Confused about dates in interaction design? See our new study (free): http://www.syntagm.co.uk/design/datesstudy.htm 12 UK mobile phone e-commerce sites compared! Buy the report: http://www.syntagm.co.uk/design/uxbench.shtml Courses in card sorting and Ajax interaction design. London, Las Vegas and Berlin: http://www.syntagm.co.uk/design/csadvances.shtml http://www.syntagm.co.uk/design/ajaxdesign.shtml > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > chris > Sent: 21 July 2009 13:42 > To: [email protected] > Subject: [IxDA Discuss] Who uses Icon View with a file browser? > ... ________________________________________________________________ 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
