[IxDA Discuss] Users ability with slider controls

[Ari Feldman]

i can't link to direct experience with this type of control for web
interfaces. they've existed ever since AJAX caught on and i've only seen
them implemented properly in very limited circumstances.
a few social networking sites use(d) them in lieu of spin controls or normal
drop down elements to do things such as select age ranges or distance
proximity. it was quirky for the most part.

personally speaking, i've found these type of controls work best as volume
controls or as 'sizers' - e.g. to control the physical scale of an element
and as a way to allow a user to specify a scale rating as in a survey since
these controls have a min and max value and can be graduated.

people know how to use them since Windows and OS X both have analogs, though
they are more frequently encountered in OS X than than are in older versions
of Windows. just make sure that the 'knob' used to control the slider is
easy to manipulate.


On 11/1/07, Tim <tim.minor at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> I wonder, does anyone know of / carried out / read any research into
> users'
> familiarity and ability with slider controls?
>
> This sort of thing for example:
> http://wiki.script.aculo.us/scriptaculous/show/SliderDemo (although I
> don't
> particularly like their implementation of them).
>
> My feeling is, as long as it looks a lot like a slider and that the
> control
> affords horizontal movement there enough real, physical sliders in the
> world
> that people would have an understanding of how they work?
>
> They feature in the Energy Saver in System Preferences in OS X for example
> so guess at least a few people know how they work...
>
> I'm trying to put together a rating tool, users rate a product on a scale
> of
> 1 to 10, and it seems to me that a slider fits the bill perfectly.
>
> Clearly there needs to be graceful degradation for clients without
> javascript but aside from that, does anyone have any comments?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Tim
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