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List:       kde-look
Subject:    Re: Radio button group highlighting (was: UI feedback from a Linux
From:       Dave Leigh <dave.leigh () cratchit ! org>
Date:       2000-04-19 22:07:49
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Dirk Hennig wrote:

> I drawed my idea of making some kind of slider and attached it to this \
> mail. The look may not be cool at the moment, but what do you think of \
> the general idea?

I think your slider idea has a lot going for it... it's immediately \
understandable, it models real-world objects, and it looks cool.

Off the top of my head, I can only think of two things against it.  The \
first is minor:  a radio button visually tells the user that all he has to \
do is click on an option to select it, just like the buttons on a car \
radio.  The slider suggests that the user should click on the thumb and \
drag it to the new option, which is slightly more difficult.  Of course, it \
should allow you to click on the option as well, but it's not obvious that \
this can be done.

The second is less minor:  Radio buttons can be grouped horizontally, \
vertically, or in rows and columns.  I might have a group of options 3 \
columns wide and 6 rows high if I wanted, grouped together (although I'd \
try my best to avoid it or use a different control, like a listbox).  I'm \
not sure how this would be visually represented in an unconfusing manner.  \
You could, of course, simply ban such arrangements and decree that a \
drop-down list or listbox should be used.



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