On Fri, Jun 10, 2011 at 8:59 PM, <a...@skyhighway.com> wrote: > The binocs idea for the icon is the best! It's totally like the average > person is going to think about it. And it's the way our eyes work.
I have serious concerns (based only on the screenshot posted earlier): * By elevating this option to the top bar, we would expect many more users to interact with the control than when it is buried in preferences. * Without textual cues, you rely on the users to associate the button with some meaning. While binoculars may be a good metaphor (and perhaps the best available), it's not a commonly used glyph. Contrast with play/pause/stop or speaker-as-volume, which are now nearly universal in audio controls. I would not expect many users to either go looking for it or easily understand what the control is affecting from just the icon. * In the mockup I've seen, the control will look similar and behave almost exactly like the nearby volume control. I would expect many novice users to click the icon by mistake, adjust the setting, then wonder why the volume didn't change, and thus leave the draw distance altered unexpectedly. * The negative side effects of setting a large draw distance are not obvious to most new users. By making the control so prominent, I would expect that many would discover the control, set it to the most aesthetically pleasing value (i.e. "see more stuff"), then forget about it and wonder why the world is suddenly reacting more sluggishly. I think it's a very cool idea and conceptually love the design, but please proceed with caution. At the risk of making the implementation more difficult, I'd suggest adding labels along the lines of "See More (Slower)" "See Less (Faster)" at the top/bottom of the slider to alleviate the confusion.
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