Am 24.02.2013 23:17, schrieb Axel Dörfler:
And where is the proof that they are actually helpful for these tasks? It's not a proof that Firefox is using them; both questions are equally valid -- I believe in common wisdom exactly as much as I believe in common stupidity. Since we don't have proof either way, I'm afraid we'll have to listen to our arguments...
Basically you are saying that it is as likely that Firefox has the tooltip for no good reason at all, as it is likely that they have done some extensive usability tests and observed that some users are unsure what this button will do. I at least am not so quick to dismiss the fact that they have it as irrelevant to our discussion.
So far I have heard two arguments: Tool-tips don't work on touch screens and they add to the cost of translation. To me, the translation cost argument sounds a bit desperate, like there is no other solid argument against them.You may have missed a few :-)
Some stuck out as making at least /some/ sense. :-)
Anyway, IMO tool tips used for standard UI elements (like an X button) are not really solving the problem of helping someone inexperienced. And the translation argument is valid only in so far that why should we add them there when they don't meet their audience, and even come for an actual price (the translation).
The point that Matt made, and now you, that a close icon in particular is part of the most basic UI interactions, is quite a good argument. I could live with that compromise, I am OK with not providing a tool-tip for that button.
However, I will give one more example why even this distinction is not so clear. (Since you said that in a row of five icons, you'd also give the obvious one a tool-tip for consistency.) In the application I am writing right now, we have some specific view management features. The views that can be opened within the main window have two or three icons on their right-top corner that relate to managing the views themselves. One of them is the obvious "X" icon to close the view. The other icons, which depend on context, are not so obvious at all, since they represent unique features in our view management that also relate to the particular layout of views in this application. It goes without saying that all these icons have tool-tips in our app. :-)
Best regards, -Stephan
