Re: [Usability] combo box guidelines?

[Jacob Beauregard <jake13jake comcast net>]

Okay, let's list actions the user might want to do.
A. Change the option
B. Look at other options
C. Nothing

What would be the odds of each of these uses, and what would be the cost 
to each of them? Does maintaining the currently-selected option in 
different circumstances make it better or worse for the user? Are 
different kinds of users going to have higher or lower costs with this 
effect.

I'm not arguing that one way or the other is better, I am just saying 
that I have experienced higher costs in certain situations when using 
the combo-box.

I believe that A is representative of the experienced user, while B is 
representative of the inexperienced user, and they will probably split 
between A and B while using their application more and more. C may 
represent an action that happens to both the experienced and 
inexperienced user, yet to a lesser degree than the other two options.

In case A, if the option is visible, there is no cost. Otherwise, there 
is a cost to the visibility of the option as well as choosing the option.

In case B, if the options are visible, there is no cost. Otherwise, 
there is the cost of every option that isn't visible.

In case C, the cost is clicking the mouse again.

I DO NOT want you all to degenerate this issue into an "We're right, 
you're wrong" conversation. It is clear that there is a lot of 
disagreement. That is why I suggested that we create guidelines for 
using the combo box. What I would like to see is some elaboration and 
expansion on the different use cases so that we can all make an informed 
decision of why something may be better or worse for different users 
with different circumstances, and possibly use that as a guideline for 
using the combo box in programs.

Caleb Marcus wrote:
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> I disagree, I think that if the options can't fit on the screen,
> moving it down to display the maximum number of options is more
> important than preserving the current position of the combo box.
>
> Benjamin Berg wrote:
> > On Sun, 2007-23-09 at 19:12
> +0100, Iain * wrote:
>
> >> Yeah thats a bug, not a usability issue...bugzilla.gnome.org
>
> >> would be the best place to take it...
>
> >
>
> > There are some bugs (eg. [1]) related to this, and it is the
>
> > intended behaviour. By placing the current selected item on top
> of
>
> > the combobox you can just click twice on a combobox and the
>
> > selection will not change. Personally I think that this behaviour
>
> > does make sense. It maybe looks weird and it is kind of annoying
> in
>
> > some cases, but personally I don't know how it could be improved.
>
> > (And I don't believe that moving all the items to use up the
> space
>
> > is the right thing to do.)
>
> >
>
> > Benjamin
>
> >
>
> > [1] http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=129463 or
>
> > http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=374871
>
> >
>
> >
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>
> >
>
> >
>
> > _______________________________________________ Usability mailing
>
> > list Usability gnome org
>
> > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/usability
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