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1500 questions
138
votes
15 answers
Who needs an external on/off Wi-Fi button?
It puzzles me that there are Laptops which are shipped with external physical Wi-Fi buttons. I see no real use of it, but it might have a historical explanation?! The only time one notice the external button is when one accidentally pushes the…
Benny Skogberg
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136
votes
6 answers
Why do numpads on keyboards and phones have reversed layouts?
I came across this on the web. It's supposed to be funny, but we all know better :)
So, why are the numpad layouts different, and what are the reasons behind each?
Vitaly Mijiritsky
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134
votes
8 answers
Why might right aligned field labels be better?
For the longest time, I've used left-aligned labels in my forms, like this:
I did this because I thought having the labels left aligned made it easier for readers to scan the list of labels.
However, I found my axiom challenged recently while…
Bevan
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133
votes
5 answers
Why are vote buttons on Stack Exchange shown when they can't be used?
I've often wondered why Stack Exchange has opted to keep the upvote/downvote buttons available for clicking on question/answers posted by the user. For instance:
Even though these buttons have no use for the user, why are they still placed on the…
shortstheory
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133
votes
10 answers
Is Markdown Friendly Enough for Non-Technical Users?
The Problem
I love using Markdown to write questions, answers, posts, comments, etc. That being said, I am a very technical, detail-oriented, programmer type. However, I am working on a CMS of sorts to be used by non-technical folks. I am using…
brad
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133
votes
11 answers
Why are radio buttons circles?
I understand that they shouldn't be square to avoid confusion with checkboxes and that today they should be circle for consistency, but why were they originally chosen to be circular? I've never seen a radio with pop buttons (that radio buttons are…
thunderblaster
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127
votes
18 answers
Why is it important to focus on user needs as opposed to requests?
This question is written with digital product design in mind, but is not exclusively tailored towards digital.
It is pretty accepted that in order to design the 'best' solution to a problem, you need to focus on user needs, problems, and desires…
Joel Blackmore
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127
votes
12 answers
How do you give your user options without overloading them?
I was using WinSCP the other day for transferring files, when I came across this.. umm.. I'll call it a set of options, but it was more like an interview.
Oh boy. I just want to move a file. Now I have to read nine options to determine what I want…
corsiKa
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126
votes
19 answers
How could one prevent drunk users from using a mobile application?
Consider a mobile application which for some reason needs to prevent drunk users from using it (e.g. to avoid dreaded "drunk dials" or "drunk texts"). How could "sober authentication" be executed from a human interaction point of view?
There must…
user1081596
125
votes
9 answers
Should you always minimize cognitive load?
The title says it all. I enjoy reading UX questions and answers from Stack Exchange's hot network questions, and I often see people justify their answers by saying it minimizes cognitive load.
I am curious, is that always the goal?
If there are…
sudo rm -rf slash
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125
votes
15 answers
Why are terminal consoles still used?
As we all know, terminal consoles come from a time where there wasn't any chance of graphical interfaces, so the need for them is more than obvious.
With the appearance of graphical interfaces, many new applications were possible, but also most of…
Devin
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124
votes
14 answers
How do you choose a font for extremely limited space, i.e. will fit the most READABLE text in the smallest space?
I often have very limited space when creating reports and dashboards for users. I usually use Arial, or Arial Narrow, but UI isn't my area of expertise, so I want to know, how do you determine an optimal font for fitting the most readable text in…
richard
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123
votes
16 answers
Is coffee a good excuse for a slow application start-up time?
I was dragged into a meeting with a client to consult on any usability issues as we watched a user performing day-to-day operations with a software application.
The first thing that happened was that after the client double-clicked the app's icon we…
edgarator
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120
votes
10 answers
Splitting credit card number fields into four different inputs
I have previously been using 4 fields for the credit card number, splitting up each set of 4 numbers to make it easier to enter.
I am now thinking about having one field, which inserts spaces after every set of numbers instead:
For the one with 4…
Source
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119
votes
24 answers
What word can be used to mean either click or tap?
Very often we need to speak generically about clicking or tapping an item, but there seems to be a lack of vocabulary in English for this. We could just say "click or tap" every time, but that is just clumsy.
Select is often used as a generic term,…
JohnGB
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