On 3.3.2006, at 17:31, David Chisnall wrote:
On 2 Mar 2006, at 23:56, Sašo Kiselkov wrote:
You mean the separator lines in the horizontal menu items, right?
I also meant the gradient look on the top-level menu items, which
is consistent with the Nesedah guidelines that anything clickable
should have a gradient look. On NeXT, the menu items looked like
buttons, so it was obvious you could click on them. On Mac OS,
they look like non-interactive text fields. This probably doesn't
matter much, since people will probably learn 'menus are clickable'
before they learn 'anything with a gradient is clickable,' but it's
nice to be consistent.
I disagree with buttons! :o)
Not everything clickable should look like button. Menu is something
like ... well ... menu in a restaurant :-) You have choices, either
grouped by some headlines such as Soups, Poultry, Pork, Salads,
Deserts ... or by pages. You browse the options with your finger ...
try it ... and try to imitate what you do when you like some
dish ... you tap your finger on the label. Well, at least many people
do. By mouse you lead your virtual hand represented by a mouse cursor
on a screen. You go to the menu and browse offers there by your
virtual finger, then you click and say "I want this".
Moreover, menu concept IS understandable enough. Everything in the
menu bar and menu lists except labels, some descriptive icons and
group separators is just plain noise with no added value. If you want
good and usable menu, play with item spacing (horizontal on menu bar/
vertical on menu lists) and group separators.
For more information and inspiration, see here: http://tinyurl.com/
ldmk4 :o)
My mother was able to use menus on TOS (Atari ST, see http://
tinyurl.com/l29gx) in the early 90's without any problems and without
any assistance. What she had problems with was unintuitive menu item
placement or with menus on windows under MS Windows.
<snip>
In the hope of menu simplicity, clarity and usability by all mothers
in the world, sincerely yours
Stefan Urbanek
--
http://stefan.agentfarms.net
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you,
then you win.
- Mahatma Gandhi
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