Archive of: user interface
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Akscyn's law
Hypertext systems should take about 1/4 second to move from one place to another. If the delay is longer, people may be distracted; if the delay is much longer, people will stop using the system. If the delay is much shorter, people may not realize that the display has changed.
Akscyn’s law, coined in the early 80s during the development of the ZOG hypertext system. -
Ambiguous options
Found on Vimeo after joining a group.
It’s unlikely that my definition of “important” will be the same as theirs. Does this mean I’ll get an email every time a video is added to the group? When someone joins or leaves? What about forum postings? There should at least be an explanation of what constitutes “important”.
Ambiguous options kill kittens.
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Call this progress?
Erm, progress indicators shouldn’t look like buttons. Just saying Adobe, I know you have a lot on your plate right now, but come on. You used to be good at this.
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"We got rules people"
Love the choice of language on this NASA comment form.
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Natural copy
A lovely example of naturalistic copy writing as interface from Magcloud. This neat concise paragraph sits above the normal bog-standard order confirmation table layout telling you everything you need to know right at that moment.
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Form design
More form design cleverness, this time on Panic’s blog comment form.
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Vaultpress copywriting
Really nice mad-libs style form on the Vaultpress beta-application. The hint text has real character too; “I’m most interested in VaultPress because [aliens are after my server].”
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Decide later
Found on Pingdom, an “I will decide later” option. Never seen this on a license agreement before. Wonder what the numbers are on the people who pick it? Is anyone else offering this option?
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Welcome Air Vice Marshall
From the British Airways – Exec Club Enrol. Via Simon Willison’s comment on this Flickr post.