On Fri, Nov 5, 2010 at 3:52 PM, Rob Ross <[email protected]> wrote: > > Uhm, maybe a really bad interface expert would say that. "Back" implies you > have navigation state, which is something the user now has to remember. It > introduces modality into the human-computer interaction, and that always > increases the cognitive load on the user. >
That's a nice academic explanation, but I don't think it applies to the real world. For having been sitting in many, many usability lab sessions behind a one way mirror, I can tell you that the Back metaphor is understood by a staggering amount of users from all backgrounds. It's actually reaching a point where this metaphor is leaking into non web applications, which is why you see it appear in more and more places (e.g. the Windows File Explorer, most Help systems, Android, etc...). > Modal apps like Web UIs, Dialog Wizards, etc, are harder to use than > non-modal apps. For example, iTunes is a great non-modal app (not the > *store*, the player.) I find a song by searching. I double click to play. I > can hit stop to stop. There's basically just one UI screen to interact with. > No navigating required. > Interesting example because I have often missed a Back button in iTunes. I'm looking at a play list, I insert a CD, switch to the Library, launch "Import to my library", and now I want to go back to the play list I was at in the beginning... and... which one was it again? With a Back button, the cognitive dissonance would actually be much lower. It's the perfect illustration of "Don't make me think"<http://www.amazon.com/Think-Common-Sense-Approach-Usability/dp/0789723107> . By the way, I think you are misusing the term "modality", which might be why we seem to be in disagreement on this issue. -- Cédric -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" 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/javaposse?hl=en.
