Re: [Usability] Re: Save Icon

[Diego Moya <turingt gmail com>]

On 06/02/06, Daniel F Moisset <dmoisset grulic org ar> wrote:
> If you are doing a full redesign at tango, you could use:
>
>  * open: folder with arrow going out (perhaps a small document at the
> end of the arrow, but i dont know if the detail will be eonugh)
>  * close: folder with arrow going in (again perhaps with a document)
>
I've seen applications with that scheme. It always looked awkward to
me - I couldn't easily distinguish which one should I use. You
actually have to think "arrow going in means putting the document in a
folder". One should develop the habit of "press the square icon to
save" (i.e. recognition by basic shape), not thinking every time the
semantics of the operation.


> that would make clear the open/save duality, and link the concept with
> documents

But is it open/save really a duality, for anyone other than a
programmer? You're probably thinking of the read/write access to files
- but that is an input/output metaphor, not one of document
processing.

For an end user, Open is "begin to work", while Save is a compulsive
"please please protect my document so that a system crash won't ruin
all my hard work". The actual opposite to Open is of course Close, as
in "finish my work".