Re: [Usability] Ellipsis on buttons

[Joachim Noreiko <jnoreiko yahoo com>]

--- Shaun McCance <shaunm gnome org> wrote:

> On Thu, 2006-03-23 at 14:50 +0000, Alan Horkan
> wrote:

> > Developers should be slapped for not properly
> labelling things.
> > (Reading documentation to find out what things do
> should be an option not
> > a necessity.)
> > 
> 
> Oh, come now.  We use iconography for all sorts of
> purposes
> in our interfaces.  Should drop-down menus remove
> their arrows
> in favor of a "Select" label?  Should disclosure
> triangles be
> removed in favor of "Open/close group" buttons?
> 
> This need to label everything gives us bulky and
> cumbersome
> interfaces.  One reason Mac interfaces often feel
> slick and
> efficient is that Apple isn't afraid to use their
> icons.

I'm taking a wander through some of the dialogs on my
mac...
The non-labelled buttons I see are:

Little round '?' for help in dialogs
+ and - to add and remove items in a list (eg list of
printers)
An button with an icon representing a user (silhouette
bust), to choose a person from the address book to
whom faxes should be emailed
Colour choosers
The lock icon at the bottom of system preferences 
requiring admin password (but that has text alongside
it that explains it)

By and large, where the user needs to choose
something, there's a list rather than a button that
summons another dialog. The user chooser and color
choosers are the exceptions.


		
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