On Fri, 2008-08-08 at 12:45 -0400, Liam R E Quin wrote: > On Fri, 2008-08-08 at 15:04 +0200, Luca Bruno wrote: > [...] > > These are some screenshots of my latest application: > > http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2384/2743364149_3258418491_o.png > > http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3167/2743368623_842a83468c_o.png > > > > What do you think about? Are colons really a need? > > Thinking froma graphical design perspective, your 2nd example has > a problem in common with a lot of GNOME applications - there is > a weak vertical centreal axis created by the two columns, and > the items in two columns are more closely connected with each > other than with rows. Try the "squint test" - half-close your > eyes so you can't read it - and you'll see what I mean. It's > especially strong as the words aren't in a language I can read, > of course. > > The usual fix for this would be to right-align the labels, and > then the colon would both strengthen the vertical axis annd help > people make the connection in rows. But I think the HIG > unfortunately favours left-adusted labels, and in that case the > colon is even more important to show the reader that the > things way way way over to the left are actually labels.
Actually, the HIG contains this very unfortunate recommendation: Left-align components and labels, unless all the labels in a group have very different lengths. If they do, right-align the labels instead, to ensure that no controls end up too far away from their corresponding labels. This is very internationalization-unfriendly advice, since labels might be wildly different lengths in different languages, yet the alignment will be set based solely on the lengths in English. -- Shaun _______________________________________________ Usability mailing list Usability@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/usability
