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Subject:
From:
"David (Heller) Malouf" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
David (Heller) Malouf
Date:
Wed, 6 Sep 2006 17:14:19 -0400
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On 9/6/06, Jeff Kroll <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Please, can someone explain? Have studies shown this to be better? Have web
> based applications introduced more compelling reasons for collecting from
> left to right that trump the real world analog of right to left?
>
> The only thing people I've talked to have been able to come up with is that
> "we read from left to right", but that really doesn't resonate with me.

The reading example is actually pretty strong, but you have to
juxtapose it against something else. Most of the examples you are
looking at use drag and drop or a major gesturing system that work
right > left.

The most ubiquitous system that does left > right is probably the
addressing system in Outlook and similar e-mail software. These do not
regularly use gestures like drag and drop, but work through keyboard
and mouse clicks. In these situations where it is available list box +
add/remove buttons + selected list box it really does make sense.

Of course with auto-complete how many people go to their addressing
dialogs any more?

The web used this pattern of selection quite a bit b/c of the
available controls in the web have been so limited. This metaphor and
direction has become pretty ingrained. I recently came upon this
problem in an application I was working on. Once more we made the
available list appear dynamically upon need for selection, while the
selected list was always available and had reporting information on
it. Because the selected list would have to jump to make space for the
new available list, I thought it better to overlay the available list
to the right, covering (though available through scroll) the reporting
information which became secondary in the new selection task context.
I still believe in this.

However, the pull among my co-conspirators to keep with the
web-convention was quite strong and it appears that this is the
direction we are heading in. The selected list will jump right making
room to its left for the available list. it is all very startling and
there is motion of other relevant elements that are hard to find again
through this process. Oh well!

-- dave

-- 
David (Heller) Malouf
[log in to unmask]
http://synapticburn.com/

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