TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Brainstorm for toolbar button From:Kevin Harper <kevinh -at- DEV -dot- TIVOLI -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 29 Nov 1995 07:55:24 CST
Kim Adams wrote:
> A professional user interface designer once told me she thought buttons
> should have both text and graphics on them.
This shocks me. I would think that a professional UI designer would
preach against this because bitmap containing the text/graphic is
probably not easily internationalized. For this reason, I don't think
the word "default" or its equivalent should appear in the icon. (Unless,
perhaps, the original poster's company is not interested in selling
the product outside the US.)
But is a toolbar button that displays a defaults dialog really necessary?
I've always thought that these buttons are designed to help the
user access frequently-used areas/functions of the application. Is the
user expected to set the defaults on a regular basis? Granted, I
don't know the application, but I've never come across a program
in which I reset default values on a regular basis.
