Recent Discussions

FAV button

Dave wrote: " Would it kill them to make a remote that is backlit like a
phone touch pad?"

The FAV button began life as ALT for "Alternate Channel" which simply
toggled between two channels. Some TVs let you define the function to be
either a toggle or a string of "favorites" (though more a dozen does get
cumbersome when you can only go one way). Some TVs actually put something up
on the screen, so you can summon the list and then pick... but then the
labor-saving aspect starts to seem shaky.

The FAV or ALT button has always been more popular in the U.S.

Nice article on the design of the Tivo remote controlin tomorrow's Times

When is someone going to realize that people watch TV w/ dimmed or no lights
on? How often I've been watching a DVD or something off the DVR and I get a
call and I can't find the stupid PAUSE button. Would it kill them to make a
remote that is backlit like a phone touch pad?

Otherwise, I agree w/ Nielly about the FAV button.
What I wanted for a FAV button was something that limited my GUIDE, not
something that went up (you can't go backwards) a shortened chain. Why is
that? Well Ok, I love TV, right? My FAV list turns out to have hmmm?

HCI vs. Interaction Design (was Re: Looking within...)

Pardon the intrusion into this otherwise unrelated topic, but I find it
interesting that you are using the term HCI (Human-Computer
Interaction) as synonymous with interaction design.

Box-select operation design

I have a map-based drawing application where many
thousands of zones are drawn by the user.

When manipulating these zones, using standard mouse
gestures, it is particularly difficult to deal with
performing a box-select operation, because there is no
background to click on...it is covered with zones.

The common result is that when the user does
box-select a set of zones, another zone gets moved,
instead. Very annoying.

Is there a mouse gesture convention for this?

Alt+drag?

Thanks.

Sandeep