Date: Sun, 14 Jul 1996 19:13:47 -0600 From: Sean Kelly <kelly@fsl.noaa.gov> To: jfieber@indiana.edu Cc: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: FreeBSD keyboard Message-ID: <199607150113.BAA18233@gatekeeper.fsl.noaa.gov> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.3.94.960714141640.1889B-100000@Fieber-John.campusview.indiana.edu> (message from John Fieber on Sun, 14 Jul 1996 14:30:41 -0500 (EST))
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>>>>> "John" == John Fieber <jfieber@indiana.edu> writes:
John> Universal, culturally neutral, self-evident icons are a
John> myth, but once an icon mapping has been learned, it can be
John> much quicker to pick out an icon among others than a word
John> among others. There is a reason road signs are not all
John> rectangular with black text on a white background!
Except that road signs usually aren't lined up in a perfect, uniform
row in a toolbar, with all the same widths, heights, and all the same
colors. If they varied in size, shape, color, and placement---like
road signs---it'd be quite easy to pick out the search icon and the
zoom-in icon.
John> (Whether the use of screen space is warranted is separate
John> issue.)
Warning, entering Edward Tufte mode:
At each workstation are two powerful information processing units: the
brain and the computer. Yet all communication between these two units
must pass through the low-bandwidth computer monitor. Making
efficient use of monitor space is therefore paramount; destroy all
icons as they waste precious screen real estate!
--
Sean Kelly
NOAA Forecast Systems Laboratory kelly@fsl.noaa.gov
Boulder Colorado USA http://www-sdd.fsl.noaa.gov/~kelly/
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