Re: Get rid of the scrollbars

[Jon Nettleton <jon nettleton gmail com>]

On 5/13/09, foss[ilized] <fosslistmail googlemail com> wrote:
> Just a thought: one of the ugliest graphical items I see on almost all
> of today's desktop environments is the scrollbar.
>
> I think it's time to get rid of scrollbars. With the push toward
> "touch" computing, the scrollbar becomes a hindrance rather than an
> aid to navigation. Users with large, wide or "clumsy" fingers are at a
> disadvantage when trying to click, press or drag a scrollbar to pan
> (move) a window up, down, left or right.
>
> I propose putting the navigation icons on the window itself. The
> arrows could be mere indicator arrows, directional triangles, or plus
> signs. The actual panning can be done by dragging the window itself.
> Alternatively, the arrows could be "small" icons located at the top,
> bottom, right, and left edges of the window that needs to be scrolled.
> Bringing the mouse pointer close to the edge of the screen or pointing
> at the arrow will magnify or enlarge the arrow, which would give the
> user a larger "clickable" area.

The scrollbar on a desktop does more than just provide navigation.  It
is also a quick visual clue to the user about how long a document is
and approximately where the user is in the document.

Perhaps we could look at taking your idea and change it a bit.  Have
the up down arrow get smaller as you near the end of the document, or
something along those lines.  We might want a button next to the
navigation arrows like the history button in firefox that when click
drops down a quick scrolling bar.

Jon