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Clasen: GNOME 3.7 at the halfway markClasen: GNOME 3.7 at the halfway markPosted Jan 25, 2013 17:40 UTC (Fri) by tjc (subscriber, #137)In reply to: Clasen: GNOME 3.7 at the halfway mark by robert_s Parent article: Clasen: GNOME 3.7 at the halfway mark
I think so too. The label actually makes things worse, since one doesn't know if it indicates current state, or potential state as a result of "flipping" the switch. Every time I use one of those things I have to stop and think about it. The problem is that the label in the wrong place: if it were directly above the switch, it would make sense, but then of course it would take up more room.
Light switches in buildings are label-less, and this doesn't seem to confuse too many people. Perhaps toggle widgets should be the same, and follow convention: left off, right on.
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Clasen: GNOME 3.7 at the halfway mark Posted Jan 26, 2013 8:43 UTC (Sat) by aleXXX (subscriber, #2742) [Link]
When switching a light switch, you see whether the light is currently on or not, so switching will always change that, so no label is needed.
Clasen: GNOME 3.7 at the halfway mark Posted Jan 26, 2013 12:42 UTC (Sat) by nijhof (subscriber, #4034) [Link] When switching a light switch, you see whether the light is currently on or not, so switching will always change that, so no label is needed.For added fun maybe one could add a multi-way switch ("hotelschakelaar") to the GUI, where effectively the on or off status is an XOR of all the switches.. (certainly in my house I knever know which switch will turn which light on or off: most of the time there are three switches together in some random order compared to the topology of the rooms, half of which are multi-way)
Clasen: GNOME 3.7 at the halfway mark Posted Jan 26, 2013 19:02 UTC (Sat) by bjencks (subscriber, #80303) [Link]
Most normal (with a toggle sticking out, not the flat rocker-style) light switches I've seen have "on" and "off" printed on them. "On" is below the toggle, so visible when the switch is on, and "off" is above and visible when the switch is off.
"Three-way" switches (the ones mentioned below that XOR multiple switches) are unmarked. That's actually usually my first cue that it's a three-way switch rather than on-off.
Clasen: GNOME 3.7 at the halfway mark Posted Jan 27, 2013 16:46 UTC (Sun) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link]
Curious. Outside the theatre (where they have high-tension lighting) and bathrooms (where lights are pullcord-controlled by regulatory fiat), I've never seen any light switches other than the rocker-style ones. They never ever have labels, or any indication as to which light they control, unless someone has stuck a sticker on them indicating which is which (and sometimes, especially for inside switches controlling outside lights, the light they control is not even visible: once I even saw a switch controlling a light mounted on the side of a different house!)
I suspect the nature of light switches is one of those things heavily controlled by historical contingency and national regulation. You cannot say 'normal' about things like light switches: different regions have different normals.
Clasen: GNOME 3.7 at the halfway mark Posted Jan 29, 2013 12:18 UTC (Tue) by sorpigal (subscriber, #36106) [Link] In the USA a typical light switch has on and off printed on it (and done in raised beveling so that a blind person could figure out the distinction if necessary). Most everyday light switches follow this pattern and I think it's probably where the GNOME3 style checkbox switch concept gets its skeuomorphic inspiration.
Clasen: GNOME 3.7 at the halfway mark Posted Jan 29, 2013 12:54 UTC (Tue) by cortana (subscriber, #24596) [Link]
I think it is more likely that the inspiration was the iPhone user interface.
Clasen: GNOME 3.7 at the halfway mark Posted Jan 29, 2013 14:46 UTC (Tue) by micka (subscriber, #38720) [Link]
On the other side, I have not yet seen a light switch with anything printed on it (wall switch or switches on the power chord).
My parent would not know the meaning of "on" or "off", anyway.
Clasen: GNOME 3.7 at the halfway mark Posted Jan 29, 2013 16:25 UTC (Tue) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link]
That's a scary-looking light switch, both too easy to catch something on and tear, and quite hard to flip when you have no hands free (I routinely turn lights on and off by just leaning on them with my chin).
Clasen: GNOME 3.7 at the halfway mark Posted Jan 29, 2013 19:05 UTC (Tue) by foom (subscriber, #14868) [Link]
Not really. Complaining about the usability of something that's been in wide use for decades from a sketch of it is pretty funny.
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