Re: [Usability]toolbar icons/text

[Calum Benson <calum benson sun com>]

On Fri, 2002-08-09 at 02:11, Maciej Stachowiak wrote:

> I think the default should be icons with text. I've used a few apps
> that have toolbar items with no labels, and it's horribly confusing,
> especially when multiple icons look similar.

I tend to agree, countless usability tests have shown that icon+text is
a lot more effective than either on their own.

Potential issues with 'priority text' (terrible name btw, we should
never show this to the user!) is the current lack of any spacing to show
whether the text is associated with the icon to the left or the right of
the text, and without careful use it can even make your toolbar wider
than it would have been with the labels underneath. (Even more so in
languages like German I would imagine.)

I'm guessing it also looks kind of bad if you decide to dock your
toolbar vertically, but anyone who does that probably knows how to to
turn it off anyway.

Cheeri,
Calum.

-- 
CALUM BENSON, Usability Engineer       Sun Microsystems Ireland
mailto:calum benson ireland sun com    Desktop Engineering Group
http://www.sun.ie                      +353 1 819 9771

Any opinions are personal and not necessarily those of Sun Microsystems