Re: [Usability]Re: Controls, widgets, and UI learning.

[Reinout van Schouwen <reinout cs vu nl>]

Following up on my own message:

> I'm inclined to think that the "scrollbox" example is just that, an
> example of the type of things that are called widgets in GUI context.

Yesterday evening I was browsing my literature to find out what it says on
the controls/widgets subject. The results are a bit contradictory, but
judge for yourself:

Theo Mandel, in my favorite HCI book "The Elements of User Interface
Design", doesn't use the word 'widget' once, but only talks of 'interface
controls'. The relevant paragraph (p. 166):

>--snip--<
Users must understand how to use GUI controls

There are many graphical interface controls that users must understand in
order to navigate among windows, make selections, and enter data. Table
9.3 lists many of these GUI controls. These controls should be designed to
be intuitive for users as to what they represent and how users can
interact with them using either the keyboard or the mouse. The window
elements I discussed, such as menu bars, scroll bars, and windows-sizing
buttons, are also graphical controls that users must understand.

Table 9.3 interface controls used in GUIs and OOUIs
Entry field	Value set
Menu bar	Tear-off menu
Toolbar		Check box
List box	Container
Pull-down menu	Scroll bar
Spin button	Notebook (tabbed dialogs)
Cascaded menu	Slider
Push button	Drop-down list
Pop-up menu	Combination entry field/list box
Radio button	Drop-down combination box
Tool palette
>--snip--<

However, Dix et al. in their well-respected book "Human Computer
Interaction", 2nd ed., give a very clear definition of widgets (p.123):

>--snip--<
3.6 Elements of the WIMP interface
We have already noted the for key features of the WIMP interface that give
its name - windows, icons, pointers and menus - and we will now describe
these in turn. There are also many additional interaction objects and
techniques commonly used in WIMP interfaces, some designed for specific
purposes and others more general. We will look at buttons, toolbars,
palettes and dialog boxes. (...)
Together, these elements of the WIMP interfaces are called /widgets/, and
they comprise the toolkit for interaction between user and system.
>--snip--<

Dix et al. also mention controls, but they use the word in a more generic
sense, when they talk about the logical grouping of controls and displays
in system interfaces (p.111, chapter 3.4.1, for who wants to read it).


regards,

-- 

Reinout van Schouwen			Artificial Intelligence student
email: reinout cs vu nl			mobile phone: +31-6-44360778
GPG public key http://www.cs.vu.nl/~reinout/reinout.asc