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List:       kde-look
Subject:    Re: Radio button group highlighting
From:       Laurent MOUSSAULT <laurent.moussault () mail ! dotcom ! fr>
Date:       2000-04-21 9:45:10
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Le Thu, 20 Apr 2000, Rik Hemsley a écrit :
> I think using a slider is another example of using a widget for
> a purpose for which is was not designed, similar to the idea of
> using a listbox for exlusive selections.

That's why I proposed to draw the link between radio buttons instead of using
a slider.

> Example from Empath:
> 
> ,- Encoding ---------------------.
> | (o) Base 64          ( ) 8 bit |
> | ( ) Quoted-printable ( ) 7 bit |
> `--------------------------------'

First, IMHO this is an example of bad radio button design.
The box around the options is not enough to show that they are mutually
exclusive.  Box are just intended to group related information, and that's what
they do in current applications, _except_ when there is only radio buttons
inside...

I propose this instead:


    Encoding:

    (o) Base 64              ( ) 8 bit
     |________________________|
     |                        |
    ( ) Quoted-printable     ( ) 7 bit


Yes, I know: this can't be done automagically by a widget.  This mean we need a
somewhat "artistic" way of designing dialogs.  Which is almost already true
(some dialogs are more pleasant to look at than others, and I think this isn't
completely irrelevant to UI design).

So, this is not a proposition for KDE 2, but I still think that this could be a
good thing to do -- later.

Another point is that implementing this only in a few applications at first is
not a big problem, as this is just an addition to normal radio buttons, so the
user will not have to front a whole new paradigm.

-- 
Laurent MOUSSAULT
ICQ# 66656146
Rockwell-Collins / Eurisco, France

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