5 ms·

I agree. “…” has an established meaning of “et cetera” that makes me inclined to tap it for “more”. For a while I wasn’t really aware that “≡” was something I c

I agree. “…” has an established meaning of “et cetera” that makes me inclined to tap it for “more”. For a while I wasn’t really aware that “≡” was something I could interact with. I’m only 24, but didn’t get a smartphone until pretty recently. The thing that bothers me the most about mobile UIs is how implicit everything is—there are very few affordances to indicate what’s even interactible. For example, I would never have tried to swipe down from the top of the screen on Android to view my notifications unless I had seen it done before, or I had done it by accident. To me, that’s abysmal design.

wavefunction 11y ago
You might consider that a hamburger menu indicates an abstracted graphical menu form, whereas an ellipsis is culturally specific and limited in its meaning. I tend to see people in the West (of which I am a native) who completely discount their cultural preconceptions when approaching accessible digital design.
- thaumasiotes 11y ago
  > ellipsis is culturally specific and limited in its meaning It might be less culturally specific than you think. You wouldn't believe how often Chinese people send me 。。。 in chat.
  - wavefunction 11y ago
    All I would say is I am more interested in reaching the many Chinese (and other people) who have no understanding of an ellipses than those that do. Those that do are already digitally literate and can suss a hamburger menu out, those that don't are facing an artificial barrier imposed by our cultural expectations. Universal glyphs versus culturally specific symbols, and glyphs should win every time imo.
    - thaumasiotes 11y ago
      Why do you think that Chinese who can recognize an ellipsis are digitally literate? There are no universal glyphs; they're all culturally specific.
  - 13of40 11y ago
    I think the ... represents "some other text that's too small to read unless you peek close", which can probably appeal to any culture that has horizontal text.
- Spooky23 11y ago
  Maybe different glyphs should be presented to different user communities. Why show me something meaningless because native Chinese speakers don't grok it? Show me (US male) what I get and show them what they get.
JonathonW 11y ago
More importantly, "..." has (at least; I don't know the exact timing here) a couple decades of history behind it as an indication of "more stuff is going to pop up when you click this item"-- it was used to indicate that a menu item was going to open a dialog prompting for more information at least as far back as Windows 3.1 on the Windows side and System 7 on the Mac side. But, really, I don't care that much about what character we use as a menu button; I just wish we'd settle on one, for consistency's sake. And, when we do show a menu button, it shouldn't become a "kitchen sink" kind of menu (looking at you, Chrome)-- a menu button (without specific text or a more specific icon) should house global navigation and functionality, with more specific functionality placed in contextually appropriate locations within your app, where the user will actually find them.

wavefunction 11y ago

You might consider that a hamburger menu indicates an abstracted graphical menu form, whereas an ellipsis is culturally specific and limited in its meaning. I tend to see people in the West (of which I am a native) who completely discount their cultural preconceptions when approaching accessible digital design.

thaumasiotes 11y ago
> ellipsis is culturally specific and limited in its meaning It might be less culturally specific than you think. You wouldn't believe how often Chinese people send me 。。。 in chat.
- wavefunction 11y ago
  All I would say is I am more interested in reaching the many Chinese (and other people) who have no understanding of an ellipses than those that do. Those that do are already digitally literate and can suss a hamburger menu out, those that don't are facing an artificial barrier imposed by our cultural expectations. Universal glyphs versus culturally specific symbols, and glyphs should win every time imo.
  - thaumasiotes 11y ago
    Why do you think that Chinese who can recognize an ellipsis are digitally literate? There are no universal glyphs; they're all culturally specific.
- 13of40 11y ago
  I think the ... represents "some other text that's too small to read unless you peek close", which can probably appeal to any culture that has horizontal text.
Spooky23 11y ago
Maybe different glyphs should be presented to different user communities. Why show me something meaningless because native Chinese speakers don't grok it? Show me (US male) what I get and show them what they get.

JonathonW 11y ago

More importantly, "..." has (at least; I don't know the exact timing here) a couple decades of history behind it as an indication of "more stuff is going to pop up when you click this item"-- it was used to indicate that a menu item was going to open a dialog prompting for more information at least as far back as Windows 3.1 on the Windows side and System 7 on the Mac side. But, really, I don't care that much about what character we use as a menu button; I just wish we'd settle on one, for consistency's sake. And, when we do show a menu button, it shouldn't become a "kitchen sink" kind of menu (looking at you, Chrome)-- a menu button (without specific text or a more specific icon) should house global navigation and functionality, with more specific functionality placed in contextually appropriate locations within your app, where the user will actually find them.