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Tip #2 is nice in theory, but styling button spacing in a cross-browser manner is nearly impossible. Tip #7 is awful. By the time the images load, the user cou

by ivank 18y ago

Tip #2 is nice in theory, but styling button spacing in a cross-browser manner is nearly impossible. Tip #7 is awful. By the time the images load, the user could already be typing in another input box. If you must set focus, do it right after the <input>. Tip #8 is pretty bad too. Users expect input boxes to look like input boxes. See Wufoo, which does this properly by highlighting the background. Some of the ideas aren't bad, but a few "useful techniques" won't lead to a usable interface.

bena 18y ago
Definitely agree on your assessment. I started questioning this guy's advice after his bit on button spacing. Having the words in a button "balanced" within the button does not make it any more of less useful. Intuitive, functional, and pretty aren't always the same thing. Having a pretty interface doesn't make it inherently usable.
- derefr 18y ago
  The button tip makes sense if you align the button to other text. Then, the baseline of the text in the button should be aligned to the baseline of the text outside it (if both texts are of the same font-size.) If buttons center their text vertically, and themselves are centered with respect to the half-height of the smaller characters, this can misalign the text within them; playing with vertical padding can help with this.
derefr 18y ago
Tip #7 works if you put in a bit of extra effort, and make sure that the text field you're taking the focus away from hasn't been altered from its default value.
- ivank 18y ago
  Yes, exactly. The subtleties are so dangerous that even Google gets it wrong (Google Images did this wrong, at least for a long time)
  - nirmal 18y ago
    Gmail does this wrong when you add an attachment. After it has been uploaded the textarea cursor is moved to the bottom and you end up typing after your sig.
potatolicious 18y ago
Agreed. I despise it when sites pull my focus to another field when I"m already halfway through data entry. Same goes for apps - if I launch an app and then switch to something else, for God's sake don't pull me back when you're done loading. I wanted you in the background dammit. It's also a bad idea generally to break the UI the user is accustomed to.

by ivank 18y ago

bena 18y ago

Definitely agree on your assessment. I started questioning this guy's advice after his bit on button spacing. Having the words in a button "balanced" within the button does not make it any more of less useful. Intuitive, functional, and pretty aren't always the same thing. Having a pretty interface doesn't make it inherently usable.

derefr 18y ago
The button tip makes sense if you align the button to other text. Then, the baseline of the text in the button should be aligned to the baseline of the text outside it (if both texts are of the same font-size.) If buttons center their text vertically, and themselves are centered with respect to the half-height of the smaller characters, this can misalign the text within them; playing with vertical padding can help with this.

derefr 18y ago

Tip #7 works if you put in a bit of extra effort, and make sure that the text field you're taking the focus away from hasn't been altered from its default value.

ivank 18y ago
Yes, exactly. The subtleties are so dangerous that even Google gets it wrong (Google Images did this wrong, at least for a long time)
- nirmal 18y ago
  Gmail does this wrong when you add an attachment. After it has been uploaded the textarea cursor is moved to the bottom and you end up typing after your sig.

potatolicious 18y ago

Agreed. I despise it when sites pull my focus to another field when I"m already halfway through data entry. Same goes for apps - if I launch an app and then switch to something else, for God's sake don't pull me back when you're done loading. I wanted you in the background dammit. It's also a bad idea generally to break the UI the user is accustomed to.