[Bf-taskforce25] Mockup note

[Matt Ebb]

On Sat, Mar 14, 2009 at 2:39 AM, Ton Roosendaal <ton at blender.org> wrote:
> Hi William,
>
> http://wiki.blender.org/uploads/8/88/2_5_mockups_01.png
>
> For nice aligned layouts it would work better to more strictly separate
> button values (numbers, menu options, settings) from their labels.
>

> They do this quite consistantly, only tool buttons get their entire
> text inside, which makes sense.

I disagree here. For things that are redundant like 'Location X' 'Location Y'
'Location Z' , it definitely makes sense to drop the 'Location' and
leave it as a separate label. Repeating that text on every button
overcrowds things, and makes it harder to skim-read down the left edge
for the useful information (x/y/z).

However for other buttons, I think it's better to keep the label on
the number field. The space in the UI that the text occupies is going
to be used anyway, and so putting it on the button itself keeps a very
clear connection between the value and the property (which can
potentially get messy and unclear in more complicated layouts), but
also, keeping the button size large is a good thing.

The speed of accessing a target on screen with the mouse is a function
of distance to the target and the size of the target (Fitt's law), so
the larger the button, the easier it is to hit it quickly. Having
smaller buttons means you have to be much more exact with clicks,
which is a bit of a waste if the space is already being used by the
text, just not clickable. This is also the reason why the check-box
toggle buttons are currently drawn with the button background and not
just the checkbox - it's much easier to hit, and it's also apparent
that the entire region is clickable.

cheers,

Matt