-- Eddy Groen, on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:14:42 +0100: > I was thinking: > - If I turn my TV on/off, do I press an X? No, I press an empty > square, > embedded in the context of being below the display. Mine has a symbol in it. > - If I turn my desktop computer on/off, do I press an X? No, I press > an > empty circle embedded in the context of being below the "on" light. > The same > thing goes for the monitor: a big empty rectangle next to the "on" > light. Mine has a symbol in it. > - If I check my battery status on my MacBook Pro, does the button > have > anything engraved? No, it's an empty circle, embedded in a context of > eight > little light points. I don't have this button. :) > So I do not think very highly of the argument that because it has by > now > become a computer convention that an X is used to close the window, > it has > to apply at all times. Equally so does not every electronics > manufacturer > put one of those circles with a stripe in it on an on/off button, > provided > the context is clear enough for the user to understand it's an on/off > button The crux. If you find a square button you cannot assume it's the On/Off button. Whereas there are only very few buttons on today's TVs, a GUI can be full with them and have all kinds of functions. > Will a user understand that a window needs to be closed by pushing a > square > in one of its top corners? As -Meanwhile- said: if you think they > don't get > it, you are underestimating the user. --snip > Lastly, the checkbox argument. Again, we are talking about *context* > here. > And again, you are underestimating a user when he cannot distinguish > a > checkbox in a window panel from a checkbox with a different purpose > in an > entirely different interface section. I'll stop posting on this topic. Obviously nobody reads what I write and I'm sick of repeating myself: Nobody mistakes the simple window- closing square for a checkbox. But you can't use a simple square just about anywhere else in the GUI and expect someone to guess what it does. So, you'll probably put an "X" into it like all the OSs. Having a subtle "X" mean "Close" everywhere could introduce consistency. Regards, Humdinger -- --=-=--=-=--=-=--=-=--=-=--=-=--=-=--=-=--=-=--=- Deutsche Haiku News @ http://www.haiku-gazette.de