OSNews > Thread > "RE[2]: Man if I have to read..." by google

Common Usability Terms: pt. I: Spatial Memory

Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 25th Oct 2007 16:52 UTC

This is the first article in a series on common usability and graphical user interface related terms. On the internet, and especially in forum discussions like we all have here on OSNews, it is almost certain that in any given discussion, someone will most likely bring up usability and GUI related terms - things like spatial memory, widgets, consistency, Fitts' Law, and more. The aim of this series is to explain these terms, learn something about their origins, and finally rate their importance in the field of usability and (graphical) user interface design. We start off with spatial memory - my personal favourite.

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RE[2]: Man if I have to read...

by google_ninja on Fri 26th Oct 2007 05:09 UTC in reply to "RE: Man if I have to read..."

Member since:
2006-02-05

I find it especially silly when Fitt's Law gets cited as some sort of trump card argument "proving" the superiority of E.g. global menu bars. Fitt's Law, IIRC, just has to do with where UI elements can be placed to make them easiest to "hit" with the mouse pointer - it doesn't say a thing about which particular elements should be placed in those easy-to-hit parts of the screen.

Fitts' Law doesn't say "put a menu at the top of the screen", but it does explain why placement a is superior to placement b, as long as you buy into the whole "infinite height" thing.

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RE[3]: Man if I have to read...

by StephenBeDoper on Fri 26th Oct 2007 16:53 in reply to "RE[2]: Man if I have to read..."

Member since:
2005-07-06

True, but it could be applied to any user interface element just as easily as menu bars.

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