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  3. (Can I talk about UI?) Column headers vs content alignment

(Can I talk about UI?) Column headers vs content alignment

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  • 0 0x01AA

    I dont see the crossfires :laugh: For me a checkbox columns looks better in center alignment. But I think that is a very personal taste thing.

    J Offline
    J Offline
    Jeremy Falcon
    wrote on last edited by
    #13

    Crap I need some coffee. I agree with that in regards to check-boxes, just not plain text. I might nuke my post.

    Jeremy Falcon

    0 E 2 Replies Last reply
    0
    • J Jeremy Falcon

      Crap I need some coffee. I agree with that in regards to check-boxes, just not plain text. I might nuke my post.

      Jeremy Falcon

      0 Offline
      0 Offline
      0x01AA
      wrote on last edited by
      #14

      Don't worry ;)

      1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • J Jeremy Falcon

        If you follow this style guide insofar as the alignment goes you'll be ok... [Table and Data Grid Guidelines](https://balsamiq.com/learn/ui-control-guidelines/tables-data-grids/) Just don't forget to do the opposite for RTL languages for cells that aren't form controls.

        Jeremy Falcon

        M Offline
        M Offline
        Maximilien
        wrote on last edited by
        #15

        damn, a guideline !! I'm doomed!! Thanks.

        CI/CD = Continuous Impediment/Continuous Despair

        R 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • M Maximilien

          I don't think there is a UI specific forum and the question is language agnostic... I have a UI with headers (days of the week) and checkbox/radiobox under each day of the week. Should I left align the checkbox/radio box with the header ? or center-align ? and columns will all be same width in the real thing. (x for check box, o and O for radio box )

          Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
          X X X X X
          o o o o o
          O o O O o
          o O o o O

          Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
          X X X X X
          o o o o o
          O o O O o
          o O o o O

          Discuss/fight/troll me... Thanks.

          CI/CD = Continuous Impediment/Continuous Despair

          M Offline
          M Offline
          Marc Clifton
          wrote on last edited by
          #16

          Make it user configurable. ;) Make sure you support right-to-left languages. :) Or, as my French teacher told me, if you don't know which way the accent mark goes, just draw a horizontal line and the testers can't ding you. AKA: center-aligned. ;)

          Latest Articles:
          A Lightweight Thread Safe In-Memory Keyed Generic Cache Collection Service A Dynamic Where Implementation for Entity Framework

          M C 2 Replies Last reply
          0
          • M Marc Clifton

            Make it user configurable. ;) Make sure you support right-to-left languages. :) Or, as my French teacher told me, if you don't know which way the accent mark goes, just draw a horizontal line and the testers can't ding you. AKA: center-aligned. ;)

            Latest Articles:
            A Lightweight Thread Safe In-Memory Keyed Generic Cache Collection Service A Dynamic Where Implementation for Entity Framework

            M Offline
            M Offline
            Maximilien
            wrote on last edited by
            #17

            Every friggin' thing is configurable in our software. This is one of the rare UI that will not be configurable

            CI/CD = Continuous Impediment/Continuous Despair

            J J D 3 Replies Last reply
            0
            • M Maximilien

              I don't think there is a UI specific forum and the question is language agnostic... I have a UI with headers (days of the week) and checkbox/radiobox under each day of the week. Should I left align the checkbox/radio box with the header ? or center-align ? and columns will all be same width in the real thing. (x for check box, o and O for radio box )

              Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
              X X X X X
              o o o o o
              O o O O o
              o O o o O

              Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
              X X X X X
              o o o o o
              O o O O o
              o O o o O

              Discuss/fight/troll me... Thanks.

              CI/CD = Continuous Impediment/Continuous Despair

              B Offline
              B Offline
              BernardIE5317
              wrote on last edited by
              #18

              Center of course for the obvious logical reason previously stated. Also : Vertical line separators. Each column in alternating colors. Upon hover icons fly around depending on column. to wit exempli gratia: Monday flying piggies Tuesday flying kittens Wednesday flying puppies Thursday flying butterflies Friday flying froggies Of course the library of flying icons should be user extensible. Distinct perhaps random fonts is user optional.

              1 Reply Last reply
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              • J Jeremy Falcon

                Crap I need some coffee. I agree with that in regards to check-boxes, just not plain text. I might nuke my post.

                Jeremy Falcon

                E Offline
                E Offline
                englebart
                wrote on last edited by
                #19

                Make sure you reach orbit first!

                1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • M Maximilien

                  I don't think there is a UI specific forum and the question is language agnostic... I have a UI with headers (days of the week) and checkbox/radiobox under each day of the week. Should I left align the checkbox/radio box with the header ? or center-align ? and columns will all be same width in the real thing. (x for check box, o and O for radio box )

                  Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
                  X X X X X
                  o o o o o
                  O o O O o
                  o O o o O

                  Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
                  X X X X X
                  o o o o o
                  O o O O o
                  o O o o O

                  Discuss/fight/troll me... Thanks.

                  CI/CD = Continuous Impediment/Continuous Despair

                  E Offline
                  E Offline
                  englebart
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #20

                  Bring back the survey!

                  K 1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • M Maximilien

                    damn, a guideline !! I'm doomed!! Thanks.

                    CI/CD = Continuous Impediment/Continuous Despair

                    R Offline
                    R Offline
                    Rick York
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #21

                    Don't sweat it. Guidelines are just someone else's opinion.

                    "They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"

                    J 1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • R Rick York

                      Don't sweat it. Guidelines are just someone else's opinion.

                      "They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"

                      J Offline
                      J Offline
                      Jeremy Falcon
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #22

                      Yes, but the opinion of a UX expert writing said guidelines should at least hold some weight say against that of a gardener or a meth dealer. :laugh:

                      Jeremy Falcon

                      P R T 3 Replies Last reply
                      0
                      • M Maximilien

                        Every friggin' thing is configurable in our software. This is one of the rare UI that will not be configurable

                        CI/CD = Continuous Impediment/Continuous Despair

                        J Offline
                        J Offline
                        Jeremy Falcon
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #23

                        Maximilien wrote:

                        This is one of the rare UI that will not be configurable

                        Don't forget the read only checkbox they can't uncheck that says make this not configurable. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

                        Jeremy Falcon

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • M Maximilien

                          Every friggin' thing is configurable in our software. This is one of the rare UI that will not be configurable

                          CI/CD = Continuous Impediment/Continuous Despair

                          J Offline
                          J Offline
                          jeron1
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #24

                          Maximilien wrote:

                          rare UI that will not be configurable

                          .....until the afternoon before the scheduled release date. :)

                          "the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment "Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst "I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • E englebart

                            Bring back the survey!

                            K Offline
                            K Offline
                            kmoorevs
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #25

                            :thumbsup:+5 for mentioning this! I used to look forward to the weekly surveys. :)

                            "Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse "Hope is contagious"

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • M Maximilien

                              Every friggin' thing is configurable in our software. This is one of the rare UI that will not be configurable

                              CI/CD = Continuous Impediment/Continuous Despair

                              D Offline
                              D Offline
                              DerekT P
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #26

                              Then make sure to make the number of weekday columns configurable, for when we (finally) narrow down the week to 3 days (yes, I do remember the 1970s); but allow for up to 10 days, for when we decimalise the calendar.

                              Telegraph marker posts ... nothing to do with IT Phasmid email discussion group ... also nothing to do with IT Beekeeping and honey site ... still nothing to do with IT

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • M Maximilien

                                I don't think there is a UI specific forum and the question is language agnostic... I have a UI with headers (days of the week) and checkbox/radiobox under each day of the week. Should I left align the checkbox/radio box with the header ? or center-align ? and columns will all be same width in the real thing. (x for check box, o and O for radio box )

                                Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
                                X X X X X
                                o o o o o
                                O o O O o
                                o O o o O

                                Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
                                X X X X X
                                o o o o o
                                O o O O o
                                o O o o O

                                Discuss/fight/troll me... Thanks.

                                CI/CD = Continuous Impediment/Continuous Despair

                                R Offline
                                R Offline
                                RedDk
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #27

                                I've been thinking about this and I'd categorically tell anyone asking about justifying text that would ultimately be copied and pasted, left justify it. Because of the use but also because of the westwardness of things in general. On a lighter note: A Zoo visiter walks past the front gate of Jack Hanna's Imperial Animal Venue and approaching the docent at the first water attraction he comes across, gazing with astonishment at the creature wallowing in the shallows below the fence, says to him "That is the strangest reptile I've ever seen" to which the docent points to the shingle hanging above and says "That's the world's meanest orneriest lizard and it's called a Crockagator, hence the sign". The visitor reads the title of the sign and steps a couple feet closer to read the finer print beneath the bold letters and says out loud "Two-headed beast: one end the mouth of an alligator, on the other end the mouth of crocadile". He kinda scratches his head for a moment and thinks to himself then says to the docent "I see ... two heads, must be very hard to feed and eats a lot to boot. But what makes him so beastly"? To which the docent replies: "If you had a mouth on one end of you and another mouth on the other end of you, you'd be mighty beastly too.

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • M Marc Clifton

                                  Make it user configurable. ;) Make sure you support right-to-left languages. :) Or, as my French teacher told me, if you don't know which way the accent mark goes, just draw a horizontal line and the testers can't ding you. AKA: center-aligned. ;)

                                  Latest Articles:
                                  A Lightweight Thread Safe In-Memory Keyed Generic Cache Collection Service A Dynamic Where Implementation for Entity Framework

                                  C Offline
                                  C Offline
                                  charlieg
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #28

                                  that right there. leave it up to the user, but default to centering. Better yet, add some data collection to see what users actually like. I've been a long proponent for this, as I think the vast majority of features are rarely used. I'm thinking Word, Excel, most of the Windows desktop, applications and systems I've written, etc.

                                  Charlie Gilley “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759 Has never been more appropriate.

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • J Jeremy Falcon

                                    Yes, but the opinion of a UX expert writing said guidelines should at least hold some weight say against that of a gardener or a meth dealer. :laugh:

                                    Jeremy Falcon

                                    P Offline
                                    P Offline
                                    PJ Arends
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #29

                                    Quote:

                                    should at least hold some weight say against that of a gardener or a meth dealer

                                    I will just keep my opinions to myself then

                                    Within you lies the power for good - Use it!

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • M Maximilien

                                      I don't think there is a UI specific forum and the question is language agnostic... I have a UI with headers (days of the week) and checkbox/radiobox under each day of the week. Should I left align the checkbox/radio box with the header ? or center-align ? and columns will all be same width in the real thing. (x for check box, o and O for radio box )

                                      Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
                                      X X X X X
                                      o o o o o
                                      O o O O o
                                      o O o o O

                                      Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
                                      X X X X X
                                      o o o o o
                                      O o O O o
                                      o O o o O

                                      Discuss/fight/troll me... Thanks.

                                      CI/CD = Continuous Impediment/Continuous Despair

                                      R Offline
                                      R Offline
                                      rob tillaart
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #30

                                      Have you considered rotating 90 degrees? So the weekdays form column one etc.

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • J Jeremy Falcon

                                        Yes, but the opinion of a UX expert writing said guidelines should at least hold some weight say against that of a gardener or a meth dealer. :laugh:

                                        Jeremy Falcon

                                        R Offline
                                        R Offline
                                        Rick York
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #31

                                        I give them no more weight than that gardener. I used to ask our cleaning lady for UI suggestions and got some great ones from her. We had to deal with a lot of non-computer savvy operators and she was the perfect person to ask since everyone else around was experienced. This so-called expert probably just read a few books and there is a high probability that I (and you) have more experience dealing with actual UIs than they do.

                                        "They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"

                                        J 1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • R Rick York

                                          I give them no more weight than that gardener. I used to ask our cleaning lady for UI suggestions and got some great ones from her. We had to deal with a lot of non-computer savvy operators and she was the perfect person to ask since everyone else around was experienced. This so-called expert probably just read a few books and there is a high probability that I (and you) have more experience dealing with actual UIs than they do.

                                          "They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"

                                          J Offline
                                          J Offline
                                          Jeremy Falcon
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #32

                                          That's an assumption... Devs deal with UI on a technical level, but most devs I know don't even know jack about CSS, for instance. They lie and pretend to, but they don't know anything about it. It's all ego and arrogance and fear and more of the nonsensical lies that fills our industry when a typical dev says they know it, but then they can't tell you the difference between pixel value and point value. A good dev should be able to with _with_ UX about new toys available, but that doesn't make the devs an expert of all things UX (not the same as UI). I consider myself pretty good at UX theory (not the best at all) and I know for a fact I've talked to more non-devs/users about the experience. And a good UX person will; a bad one won't. Most good UX peeps or marketing peeps I know love to chat about ideas and they speak to users way more than a dev with zero social skills. It's always a dev that argues about everything petty little thing (like this). Which I would argue makes devs much less qualified to find out what people really want. But, that goes for any role... like the aforementioned devs. And while you can consider a gardener an end user, the chance he/she talks to a larger sample size about an application is all but zero. Which means, it's statically invalid in and of itself. But someone who has a much larger sample size at least has a better chance of getting it "right". As in, you _should_ talk to a gardener as an end user and get their feedback, but you don't see that gardener going around talking to other end users as much as you would see that with someone who's job it is. Again, they have to be good at their job, but that goes for any role. Plenty of devs out there suck too and lack the self-awareness to see that.

                                          Jeremy Falcon

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