Re: [Usability] Zoom Controls

[Allan Day <allanpday gmail com>]

> Coincidentally, yesterday I was trying to munge Federico's ideas into 
> the UI Pattern Template I've been working on-- primarily to continue to 
> exercise the template rather than suggest a concrete design for zoom 
> controls, so I'm not saying the pattern I came up with is particularly 
> valid-- I do still show the zoom in terms of percentage, for example. 
> But just for the record, here's where I got to (some sections incomplete):
> <http://live.gnome.org/UsabilityProject/HIG/ImageZoomExamplePattern>

There's some really good stuff on this page.

<snip>
> I mentioned on IRC yesterday that I think there are actually probably a 
> couple of different use cases here-- the one where the bounds of the 
> allowable zooming are practically infinite (e.g. a vector graphics 
> editor), and one where you could sensibly define them for most use cases 
</snip>

Yes - it'll be useful to distinguish those in the pattern and to suggest
different controls accordingly.

> In the 'defined bounds' case, I think providing a slider can still be 
> useful, and I do quite like the way OpenOffice's zoom slider works, with 
> a couple of 'magnetic' points along the way for 'fit width' and 'fit to 
> window'.  Where the bounds are large, having the slider behave in some 
> sort of exponential fashion might also be an option, although that would 
> probably need some tinkering to make it feel right and work well.

I'm still not entirely sure about the practical benefits of sliders, but
they may have non-practical advantages: they can look nice, and I
suspect people like them as something that they can play with. They can
be a nice change from the usual kinds of widgets you encounter.

Allan
--
IRC: aday on irc.gnome.org
Blog: http://afaikblog.wordpress.com/