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> "The biggest culprit of a simple icon turning villain is the elevator at my apartment. You’d think how much more simpler can this get. Up to go up and vice ve

by scubbo 13y ago

> "The biggest culprit of a simple icon turning villain is the elevator at my apartment. You’d think how much more simpler can this get. Up to go up and vice versa, isn’t it?" I don't understand. Is this not the case? > "Until you realize that people use this to “bring the elevator up” and to “bring the elevator down”." I think they're wrong, but now I'm doubting myself! > "I often go from my top floor to the parking with switches in-between and peeps asking “Going up or down?”" ...everything I thought I knew is a lie.

prawks 13y ago
This passage is making my brain hurt. You press the button to indicate you need to go up. The problem isn't with the button or the icon, it's with the expectation that the button should assist in helping you navigate the scheduling of the elevator(s). Which it does (to a point). If you're coincidentally on a floor where someone is getting off and you need to go in the opposite direction than the next person in the elevator's queue, the button will not reset. You're still waiting for the elevator. Culturally, people just ask instead of knowing/trying to discern this.
- daigoba66 13y ago
  I don't know about the OP's elevator, but many that use daily have arrows above the door that light up when the door opens indicating which direction the elevator is traveling next. I don't need to ask.
masswerk 13y ago
There's always an ambiguity in metaphors comprising directions and the like: Is it the direction the user is wanting to take, or is the direction the user is wanting the object of his/her interaction to take? (Most of the time these will be opposite directions.) Example: Scroll bars aren't as obvious as we may think and Apple has successfully changed their orientation. (In this case: Is it the direction the document should take inside the view or is it, where the user is wanting the viewport to go inside the document?) We could refer to this as "object view" and "subject view" – and the ambiguity being, whether the interaction is bound to the object or to the subject. Furthermore there's an ambiguity of time involved: Is it the direction, the elevator is going to take before I enter, or after I entered? (In terms of object vs subject: Am I calling the elevator or am I telling the mechanism where I would want to go?)

by scubbo 13y ago

prawks 13y ago

This passage is making my brain hurt. You press the button to indicate you need to go up. The problem isn't with the button or the icon, it's with the expectation that the button should assist in helping you navigate the scheduling of the elevator(s). Which it does (to a point). If you're coincidentally on a floor where someone is getting off and you need to go in the opposite direction than the next person in the elevator's queue, the button will not reset. You're still waiting for the elevator. Culturally, people just ask instead of knowing/trying to discern this.

daigoba66 13y ago
I don't know about the OP's elevator, but many that use daily have arrows above the door that light up when the door opens indicating which direction the elevator is traveling next. I don't need to ask.

masswerk 13y ago

There's always an ambiguity in metaphors comprising directions and the like: Is it the direction the user is wanting to take, or is the direction the user is wanting the object of his/her interaction to take? (Most of the time these will be opposite directions.) Example: Scroll bars aren't as obvious as we may think and Apple has successfully changed their orientation. (In this case: Is it the direction the document should take inside the view or is it, where the user is wanting the viewport to go inside the document?) We could refer to this as "object view" and "subject view" – and the ambiguity being, whether the interaction is bound to the object or to the subject. Furthermore there's an ambiguity of time involved: Is it the direction, the elevator is going to take before I enter, or after I entered? (In terms of object vs subject: Am I calling the elevator or am I telling the mechanism where I would want to go?)