Comments on: “Drag and Drop” it Like it’s Hot

By: John

John — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 22:00:03 +0000

I have my issues with D&D. just from personal experience when directing someone to do something on a computer and you tell them to drag something some place… ouch. First they have this confused look about the word Drag, and secondly most users ’skills’ add precisely dragging an icon or menu item are .. well .. bad.

This ranks right up there with, “oh, ya, just right click on that”. User response: “Do what now?”

However it seems to have its place. Arranging object in a spacial sense user tend to understand. The most obvious use we all know is moving windows around. And while most user dont consider this D&D the basic usability behind it is the same. Also icons on the desktop. Though there are Lots of users who have never moved them, this may be a function of the fact that some desktops have auto-arrange / snap to grid turned on.

This is of-course why apple for so many years resisted the two button mouse. right click can be “confusing”. Its mostly the fact that there is rarely a visual indication of the fact something can be right clicked on. heck most of the time its hard enough to tell when something can be clicked on (at least the web has made some steps toward fixing that … blue / underlined )

By: Twitter Trackbacks for “Drag and Drop” it Like it’s Hot | User Interface Trends [uitrends.com] on Topsy.com

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 21:43:11 +0000

[...] “Drag and Drop” it Like it’s Hot | User Interface Trends uitrends.com/2009/08/28/drag-and-drop-it-like-its-hot – view page – cached , This may be another case of the web world catching up with the desktop world, in terms of interaction, but Drag and Drop interfaces are another UI trend that's — From the page [...]

By: Hans

Hans — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 18:28:12 +0000

[quote]So obviously, Lil Wayne loves Drag and Drop Interfaces… how do you feel about ‘em?[/quote]
for those familiar with ui design, its not a question of love or hate, its about picking the right tool for completing a task. that said, i have the feeling that d&d is used mostly in context of customization, which is questionable according to
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/customization.html

By: Jeff Noble

Jeff Noble — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 21:32:30 +0000

For those not familiar with Lil Wayne… some of his design work can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTF6N7EWzOA