Re: [Usability] Zoom Controls

[Allan Day <allanpday gmail com>]

> > I'm still not entirely sure about the practical benefits of sliders, but
> > they may have non-practical advantages: they can look nice, and I
> > suspect people like them as something that they can play with. They can
> > be a nice change from the usual kinds of widgets you encounter.
> 
> You kidding?? Sliders is the only practical way to achieve a desired
> exact zoom level. Every other control has fixed size increments, while
> sliders have continuous zoom with instant feedback. This is not just
> 'nice to have', is a killer feature.

Fine granularity is one advantage of sliders that I hadn't considered.
It requires fairly precise control, of course, and so is dependent on
the kind of calibration that has already been discussed in this thread.
It might only be possible with certain kinds of pointing devices, too.

We should also be asking whether/when/why this kind of precise control
is necessary.

It's great to have this kind of discussion, btw: we're accumulating
loads of useful material for the UI pattern on this topic. :)

Allan
--
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