Comments for GUI Journal

Comment on GUI Design: Icons or Text? by Carl Andersen

Carl Andersen — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 20:01:11 +0000

Steve!

I stand by my statement that if you’re only going to have one or the other, then text is the way to go. The article also points out the problems that can occur with “text only” implementations, as well as the advantages to having both icons and text.

Icons can also be very helpful in emphasizing layout and organization. Especially on small screens (or in areas with limited space) icons give room for many more options than text. For most users, once an icon has been used frequently it becomes natural.

Thanks for your comment,
Carl

Comment on GUI Design: Icons or Text? by Steve Jones

Steve Jones — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 22:23:53 +0000

I’m sorry, but you’re completely wrong. Icons serve NO purpose, most of the time. You even admit it yourself, when you wrote “Only a handful of icons are recognized standards in the eyes of most users and so text provides the important definition or label” and “Users will learn the icons’ meaning much more quickly when a label is present”. LOL!
And won’t learn the icons’ meaning AT ALL without text!
So what purpose do icons serve? No purpose at all, but EVERYBODY keeps putting them in their programs.
“Many of the new icons are obvious, but several would definitely benefit from labels.”

Why not just use TEXT ONLY? Is that too simple? Not flashy enough? Can’t the users of your programs READ? Who are icons made for? Two year olds who can’t read? Why are they using a computer in the first place?

Comment on GUI Design: Spin Controls by Carl

Carl — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 04:52:43 +0000

You’re welcome!

Comment on GUI Design: Spin Controls by Yasuko Margolis

Yasuko Margolis — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:51:03 +0000

Mr. Andersen,
Thank you for your easy-to-follow explanations on spin controls. I was translating a document that references spin controls, and could not imagine what they are and how they work in the GUI dialogs, Apple or Windows environments. Now, I know clearly.
Thanks again.
Yasuko

Comment on GUI Design: Tri-State Checkboxes by Alexander Yurov

Alexander Yurov — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 21:15:03 +0000

>>Is it possible to design something new at this point in the evolution and history of GUIs that will catch on and receive widespread appeal? Possible, yes. Likely, no.

I think I already did next step for a TreeView, look at http://programtree.com.

Comment on About by Carl

Carl — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 23:21:55 +0000

Hugh,
The book “GUI Bloopers 2.0″ is an excellent resource.
Thanks,
Carl

Comment on About by Hugh Lomas

Hugh Lomas — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:01:49 +0000

Your site is informative and well documented via images, the content is appreciated. I was wondering if you might be able to recommend some other resources for learning, and more importantly for staying current in user interface design. Perhaps the proper search words elude me, but I am having difficulty finding any other quality resources via Google, your site is the first.

Thank you,
Hugh Lomas

Comment on GUI Design: [Alt]+[Tab] by Carl

Carl — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 17:28:38 +0000

Ah, yes, it is.
I changed my keyboard mapping some time ago and forgot about that! Thanks.

Comment on GUI Design: [Alt]+[Tab] by Wendy

Wendy — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 03:51:52 +0000

Isn’t it Command | Tab on the Mac?

Comment on GUI Design: Look and Feel by Lynn Christensen

Lynn Christensen — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 16:39:23 +0000

Thanks for the mention, Carl.