[IxDA Discuss] UI design for digital books with extensive footnotes

[Jack Moffett]

On Aug 2, 2006, at 1:38 PM, Dan Saffer wrote:

> Is this true? Why then is the convention in print for footnotes to be
> at the bottom, and, in software, for the display pane to be below the
> summaries/listings?

I think these are two different conventions.

Footnotes are at the bottom due to the limitations of the printed  
page. However, I also know of examples in which supplementary  
information is displayed in a column to the right of the main content  
(this is a standard in some military maintenance manuals). End Notes  
appear in a separate section of a publication, and the Talmud is a  
separate book altogether, for reasons I won't expound upon now.  
Digital display frees us from such limitations, for example, by  
allowing us to add floating windows, as you suggested.

The display pane below the list, as in most email software, allows  
the list to use the full width of the screen to display multiple  
columns of information. If we didn't want to see so many columns, I  
would argue that a "left list - right display" layout would work  
fine, with the added benefit of giving us a shorter line length in  
the display (something modern email readers often do anyway), and the  
full height of the screen for viewing either pane.

My reasoning is as follows:
1. There is more screen width than height. Therefore it may make more  
sense to split it into left and right panes.
2. Full screen width is two wide for ideal line lengths, so making  
two narrower columns will improve readability.
3. The users will likely want to read both the main content and the  
commentary at the same time. Jennifer's post arrived as I'm typing  
this, and I see she covered my point here. It would be easier to  
track left to right.


Jack


Jack L. Moffett
Interaction Designer
inmedius
412.459.0310 x219
http://www.inmedius.com


Questions about whether design
is necessary or affordable
are quite beside the point:
design is inevitable.

The alternative to good design
is bad design, not no design at all.

                    - Douglas Martin