On 10/11/07, Matthew Nish-Lapidus <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I tend to agree, although there are exceptions. For most devices that > have an on/off switch it's pretty obvious if the device is currently > on or off, so pressing the button will do the opposite of the current > state. > > Can anybody think of a case where the current on/off state of a device > isn't immediately obvious?
Dealing strictly with Power, this is a less contentious issue, and the power icon is quite useful for this. However, when you are dealing with devices that aren't necessarily on/off, the binary switch can be displayed in a crazy and confusing manner: A car gate, for example is open, held open or closed. I've seen cases where the button says 'OPEN' when the Garage door is closed, (telling you the function of the button... as in 'push the OPEN button to open the door') I've seen cases where the button says 'OPEN' when the Garage door is open, (telling you the current system state) The problem here comes in from the attempts at displaying the current system state in text. It can easily be mis-construed as defining the function of the button, as opposed to referencing the system state. The solution that I've been implementing is to use a graphical representation of system state, (green for on/open red, black or greyed out for off/closed) Then using text as a clear definition of the button function. device off or closed: Red button, Text='Open Gate' or 'Turn ON' device on or open: Green onstate button, Text='Close Gate' or 'Turn OFF' Just wanted to throw this up here and hear if anybody else has come up against this seemingly simple situation. Thanks for your input! ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://gamma.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://gamma.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://gamma.ixda.org/help
