Re: Hard to Revise a UI? (take II)

[coliver -at- lexmark -dot- com]

Quoth Geoff Hart:
>Changing a text string is trivial, but there's always more to 
>consider than just the string. For example, if the string has to fit 
>on a graphical button that won't automatically resize, or if it's 
>necessary to figure out how to fit a resized button within a fixed- 
>size dialog box, or if the programmer took a shortcut and used the 
>same words in several places that really require their own unique 
>wording, and so on... Then it takes a bit of work to make sure that 
>changing the text doesn't introduce any unexpected problems in the 
>interface. Plus there are typos, the risk of editing the wrong string 
>(a lookalike string in a different part of the interface), and so on.

If your software's going to be translated into other languages, you also 
need to be aware of localization costs and UI impacts.  A word that only 
consists of four characters in one language may require three or four 
times as much screen real estate in another language.  Then you've gotta 
get the new text translated into every language in which the software is 
going to ship, and then your test teams have to verify that all the 
translations are accurate... it adds up in a hurry.

Now back to lurking,

- C.

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