[IxDA Discuss] Green and not: ON and off

[Shaun Bergmann]

On 10/11/07, Matthew Nish-Lapidus <mattnl at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I tend to agree, although there are exceptions.  For most devices that
> have an on/off switch it's pretty obvious if the device is currently
> on or off, so pressing the button will do the opposite of the current
> state.
>
> Can anybody think of a case where the current on/off state of a device
> isn't immediately obvious?


Dealing strictly with Power, this is a less contentious issue, and the power
icon is quite useful for this.  However, when you are dealing with devices
that aren't necessarily on/off, the binary switch can be displayed in a
crazy and confusing manner:

A car gate, for example is open, held open or closed.
I've seen cases where the button says 'OPEN' when the Garage door is closed,
(telling you the function of the button... as in 'push the OPEN button to
open the door')
I've seen cases where the button says 'OPEN' when the Garage door is open,
(telling you the current system state)

The problem here comes in from the attempts at displaying the current system
state in text.  It can easily be mis-construed as defining the function of
the button, as opposed to referencing the system state.
The solution that I've been implementing is to use a graphical
representation of system state, (green for on/open red, black or greyed out
for off/closed)  Then using text as a clear definition of the button
function.

device off or closed:  Red button, Text='Open Gate' or 'Turn ON'
device on or open:  Green onstate button, Text='Close Gate' or 'Turn OFF'

Just wanted to throw this up here and hear if anybody else has come up
against this seemingly simple situation.  Thanks for your input!