[IxDA Discuss] up/down; forward/back; right/left

[Bill DeRouchey]

Hey Dave,

I tend to think it's okay for the button on the right to move Down the 
list. They both connote Forward.

But it sounds like you're getting tripped up on how pushing Right/Down 
moves the list up. How you move the cursor through the list can help this 
situation. Are you using a slot machine (cursor fixed in center, list 
adjusts with every move) or a TV guide (only cursor moves, list stays 
fixed until paging up/down) approach? We've found the slot machine 
approach creates a lot of confusion. I think we think better when we move 
in a list instead of the list moving around us. But it does depend on the 
number of visible items in the list.

If you use a TV guide approach, then the cursor will move down, matching 
better to pushing the button on the right.

I hope this provides a different way of thinking about your challenge.

Bill


On Tue, 19 Dec 2006, David Malouf wrote:

> Hi gang,
>
> I'm working on a project where we are trying to figure out in a horizontal
> layout for physical buttons that are used for navigating a list of options
> (primarily) that are layed out vertically how would you layout these
> buttons.
>
> So you have a button on the left and another one on the right.
> while button goes up the list and which button goes down?
>
> Here are some cursory thoughts.
> #1 Forward = add = up
> Based on that a "volume control" seems to be the most used example and
> adding volume (going up) is always on the right.
>
> #2 If we look though at the same metaphor which is a knob.
> turning right goes up for volume. So that seems compatible with #1 where
> "going right" = clockwise from the top.
>
> #3 Back/forward buttons are written back = left and forward = right in
> many circumstances again confirming that flow. But this does not have a
> "list" alegory.
>
> #4 here is where it gets different.
> previous/next are probably the closest allegory
> but "next" which is usually on the right, actually goes "down" when
> navigating a list, which scrolls the screen "up" creating a paradox for
> communicating.
>
> I know for me, when I navigate my channels on my cable provider's DVR
> (don't know about TiVO) they list the channels in the guide #1 at the top
> and #1000 at the bottom. But the down actually takes me to a higher
> channel b/c they put the visual ahead of the numeric presentation.
>
>
> #5 On the click-wheel of an iPod, the clock-wise sequence is "forward" and
> thus going down (descending) the list.
>
> My only thought here is that if I had a D-pad with 5 buttons the down and
> up would work by
> Down button: would move the selection visually under the previously
> selected item.
> Up button the opposite.
>
> since these are clearly UP & DOWN, I would hold to the allegory to the
> up/down for numeric purposes like the volume control or knob example.
>
>
> I realize there might be people saying:
> 1. Why not make it vertical? We can't
> 2. Why not use clearer lables than up/down icons? No space.
>
> So these are the design constraints. We can only change the mapping of the
> buttons, not the placement or the labels of the buttons.
>
> What are other people's thoughts?
>
> -- dave
>
> --
> David Malouf
> dave at ixda.org
> http://ixda.org/
>
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