Projects/Usability/HIG/SOU Workspace/Buttons: Difference between revisions

From KDE TechBase
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 2: Line 2:


A button initiates an action when the user clicks it.  
A button initiates an action when the user clicks it.  
[[Image:buttons.png|Buttons in KDE]]
''A set of buttons. The leftmost is active and currently hovered over, the middle one is invalid, the right one is active but not hovered''


==== Guidelines ====
==== Guidelines ====

Revision as of 09:13, 22 September 2008

Buttons

A button initiates an action when the user clicks it.

Buttons in KDE

A set of buttons. The leftmost is active and currently hovered over, the middle one is invalid, the right one is active but not hovered

Guidelines

  • If an action requires additional input from the user before it can be carried out, use an ellipsis (for example, Save As...).
  • Format all buttons in a consistent way in a dialog. Keep all buttons the same height and do not use more than two different widths.
  • Make invalid buttons insensitive (using visual feedback such as grayed-out text and no hover over affect), rather than popping up an error message when the user clicks them.
  • Indicate that a button is active with a hover over affect.
  • If a task offers multiple actions with one button set as default; indicate the default action with a highlighted line around the button.
  • If the button has more than one variation of the primary action, use a split menu button.
  • After pressing a button, the user should expect to see the result of their action within 1 second.
  • Do not assign actions to double-clicking or right-clicking a button. Users are unlikely to discover these actions, and if they do, it will distort their expectations of other buttons.