[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: RFC: Restricting mouse in popup menus
From:       "Diego Moya \(a.k.a. TuringTest\)" <turingt () gmail ! com>
Date:       2005-05-17 19:59:58
Message-ID: 11ee0494050517125991e01ed () mail ! gmail ! com
[Download RAW message or body]

On 17/05/05, Lubos Lunak <l.lunak@suse.cz> wrote:
> In short, when a popup menu is open, the mouse movement is restricted only to
> the area of the popup - this allows navigating in the menus only using
> vertical movement and clicking.

I would allow it but only as long as the mouse button is pressed, thus
turning it into a quasimode.
( http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?s=quasimode ).

>  The main disadvantage that I've found out so far is that it feels a bit odd,
> at least for the first five minutes, but since it seems to fit well together
> with the standalone menubar feature, which is also KDE-only, I guess this
> should not be a big problem ;).

The reason it feels odd is because it breaks one of the main
established dogmas of GUIs, that of the mouse always moving freely no
matter the state of the system. A really big consistency break. Not
good.

In general, restricting the movement of the mouse to a section of the
screen is a bad idea, because it forbids the user to change her mind
an beginning a different task. In particular, it would make impossible
to cancel the menu without making a selection.

Changing the cursor image or hiding it while the quasimode is active
would solve this problem by clearly changing the perception of the
user on what's happening.
_______________________________________________
kde-usability mailing list
kde-usability@kde.org
https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-usability

[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]