[sugar] FW: Touchpad XO

Xavier Alvarez xavi.alvarez at gmail.com
Fri Apr 6 09:50:23 EDT 2007


How about two closed hands (fists) with either the index or thumbs 
projecting?

The index, afaik, is universally regarded as the pointing 
finger/device, while the thumb is used a lot when 'tapping' on 
the buttons. In some places it's common to use the middle finger 
as the pointer, but... ;)

By representing both hands, you don't need to read to understand 
or differentiate them and there's very little associated meaning 
with the symbols used -- they are not abstract symbols. And can 
be used to teach left/right concept :)

BTW, what about lefties? I don't think they should be 
discriminated against by using the 'alternative' symbol for 
clicking... imho, they should both be as 'neutral' as possible, 
without denoting any 'preference' or 'abstract sequence' in which 
one is before the other.


Cheers,
Xavier


On Thursday 05 April 2007 14:35, Eben Eliason wrote:
EE> > FYI… we are adding this.
EE>
EE> While I really like the idea of labeling these buttons to
EE> prevent ambiguity, myself and the Pentagram folks who have
EE> spent much time with the UI feel that overloading the idea
EE> of the X button in particular might not be a wise choice.
EE>
EE> We already have an 'X' icon on the keyboard where the esc key
EE> sits. Additionally, the interface has been set up such that
EE> 'check' and 'X' icons appear in 'OK' and 'cancel' buttons
EE> respectively, and in other places where positive and
EE> negative confirmation is needed as well. Putting an 'X' icon
EE> on the left mouse button could lead to its interpretation as
EE> the 'cancel' button, when in fact it is the primary button
EE> and the one that would be used to click on the confirming 
EE> 'check' button.
EE>
EE> Though I like the idea of using the X and O - since the
EE> machine is an XO, after all - I think that the confusion
EE> this could cause is a bigger issue than cute button labels. 
EE> I don't propose to have a better solution at present, but I
EE> do want to spur discussion about possible solutions to this
EE> dilemma.  Perhaps we can find better icons for the buttons,
EE> or perhaps we can find other solutions within the UI, but I
EE> think leaving the hardware and software at odds will only 
EE> confuse matters.
EE>
EE> I look forward to hearing everyone's thoughts.  Thanks!
EE>
EE> - Eben
EE>

-- 
XA
=========
Don't Panic!  The Answer is 42


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