The advantage of dropdowns is their integration in the browser UI - which means stuff like VoiceOver works just fine.
Dropdowns Should Be the UI of Last Resort
81–90 of 241 posts
Re: Dropdowns Should Be the UI of Last Resort
#82The advantage of dropdowns is their integration in the browser UI - which means stuff like VoiceOver works just fine.
Re: Dropdowns Should Be the UI of Last Resort
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
I firmly believe that in a short time computers will predict all of those little things really well. Let's see.
What things? One seems highly unlikely, the other might be impossible. In on would have to be able to read complex human thought, in the other we would basically would have to predict the future.
My phone already suggests where I might want to go for dinner tonight. It's getting pretty good at it. Holiday suggestions don't seem that far beyond our capabilities.
Re: Dropdowns Should Be the UI of Last Resort
#84The advantage of dropdowns is their integration in the browser UI - which means stuff like VoiceOver works just fine.
I actually strongly agree here. If dropdown menus are so bad, then it's up to the user-agent to fix that.
Remember that they're not actually elements, they're elements. If actions that require performing a can be implemented with a much better different UI for mobile or touch, then user agents are free (and encouraged) to do so.
Re: Dropdowns Should Be the UI of Last Resort
#85Would be good if the browsers could offer more sane styled default elements. Why do I have to create a iOS like switch myself!? This is so often needed and a classic checkbox is not sufficient from UI perspective.
Well, thanfully it doesn't have to take much to turn standard HTML inputs into the types of eye-catching animated UI common on mobile. Here are two snippets from sites I've built that I have isolated for re-use. Feel free to use them in your own projects:
- Smooth toggle checkbox http://codepen.io/tomhodgins/pen/vOKjXW
- smooth sliding radio button tabs http://codepen.io/tomhodgins/pen/zGYmor
Re: Dropdowns Should Be the UI of Last Resort
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
And once again the top comment here is a meta-comment addressing the article formatting rather than the article itself. Can't we just let that stuff go and address the article itself?
Actually, in this particular case, I'd argue that this is incredibly relevant: Preacher preaches against UX sin. Commits UX sin with a non-zooming harlot.
No, it's not relevant at all.
It's not a dumb rant against dropdowns: it's a well written piece with lots of examples and arguments that show which UX patterns are better than a dropdown for specific usecases. That's not preaching, it's explaining.
Finding a small flaw in his site and using that to downplay the quality of the article and the competence of the author is shortsighted, rude and unfair. Nobody's perfect. Everybody makes mistakes. Bragging about it on Hacker News doesn't help anyone.
Re: Dropdowns Should Be the UI of Last Resort
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't think it's a matter of last resort, rather correct use. GUIs are inevitable. You basically should only ask from the user what a computer can't possibly know, for example what date you want to travel for your holidays and how many units of that product do you want.
I firmly believe that in a short time computers will predict all of those little things really well. Let's see.
There will always be cases when the computer predicts wrong and the user will need a way to edit/correct the result.
Re: Dropdowns Should Be the UI of Last Resort
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
Absolutely not. Disabling default zoom behavior is like hijacking the scroll bar - bad, ugly and puts users off. Also horrible is the tri state or undeterminate checkbox. All of the above are very trendy pieces of 'css and html codes' commonly found on popular DIY web dev sites. *edit: spelling
I do a lot of responsive design, and I turn zooming off So I CAN give you a proper responsive design that you can read and interact with on a small touchscreen. Why on earth would you prefer to pan around a desktop site designed for a big screen with a tiny cursor when you've got a tiny screen and a massive cursor (fingertip)?
How about giving me a proper responsive design, and then still letting me zoom in if your design sucks for me and the text is too small?
Not everyone has the same eyesight or the same size phone.
Re: Dropdowns Should Be the UI of Last Resort
#89If you want to see the images in actual 1:1 resolution, here is how: * Click on the image in the text. * Click on the image in the tweet. * Right-click on the image in the pop-up. * Open image in new tab. * Change the "large" at the end of the URL to "orig". Load that URL. Congrats, you now see a huge (blurry upscaled) image that you can actually read. You are out 3 times the network traffic that was needed. Why woul…
While I completely agree with you - it's an ridiculous choice - you can just right click and click "Open Image in New Tab" in Chrome. Which ironically is located on the authors own domain.
Re: Dropdowns Should Be the UI of Last Resort
#90I dislike the way mobile has become the new lowest common denominator for web development. It used to be IE6 because it was antiquated but now it's anything with a touch screen - mainly thinking how hover has been relegated to visual effects even though it's fine on non-touchscreens.
It's a matter of resources. If you get a lot of business from different devices, you can do it the Netflix way, and build customized experiences for everyone and everything.
In practice, we often have to choose between providing a bad mobile experience, or making the desktop experience weaker, by not using many tricks that are not available in the small touchscreen environment. It's not an issue of design, but dollars and cents.