Re: [Usability] Gnome HIG suggestion: search box clear buttons

[Jacob Beauregard <jake13jake comcast net>]

On Monday 04 June 2007 18:11:08 Liam R E Quin wrote:
> On Mon, 2007-06-04 at 13:20 -0700, Kirk Bridger wrote:
> > I am hesitant to assume that most users connect the address bar of a
> > web browser with the actual displayed document.
>
> That's a good point - "most users" is always a difficult phrase...
>
> >   I wonder if most people just remember "Landing page addresses" and
> > the rest is just noise as they navigate through the various subpages
> > to get where they want to go.
>
> I think that would bear some careful study -- there has already been a
> lot of study in this area, though, and I don't think it's as clearcut
> as all that.  People do, for example, edit URLs in place, and I don't
> know of studies on this specific topic.

I really hate having to hit the back button through things like logins, forms, 
and old versions of a page that I just hit the back button to get away from. 
I think that kind of stuff can be considered noise. So is a web browser 
asking me to remember a password on a sign-up form.

Generally, however, I use the address bar for the following:

-Type in an often visited page with a short URL
-Copy or Paste a URL (this is a big one)

>
> > Flash sites really epitomize this kind of navigation
>
> Flash sites are often very broken and not a good thing to hold up
> as an example to follow.  Similarly with sites making heavy use
> of Frames and violating Web Architecture.

I find frames are heavily used by people that don't want to learn serverside, 
but want the convenience of it.

>
> What I was trying to suggest is that indicating when the search box,
> or the URL bar, corresponds to the displayed document/results, and
> when it doesn't, would in both cases be a good thing, and that it
> should be done in the same way in both places, and in any other
> similar places.
>
> If users have a fuzzy model, which they probably do in most cases,
> helping to make things clearer is not a bad thing :-)
>
> Best,
>
> Liam


@Alan: Close buttons on tabs are a lot easier to use than having one set off 
to the side because a lot of users tend to look at the tabs before they close 
them. In addition, having the button set off to the side forces the user to 
have to select each tab they're closing before they close it.

@Kirk: Downside to the clear button is seeing less search field.