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Subject:What do you call it? From:Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca> To:techwr-l List <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>, Ladonna Weeks <ladonna -dot- weeks -at- comtrak -dot- com> Date:Wed, 24 Oct 2007 17:14:59 -0400
Ladonna Weeks wondered: <<Our windows or tabs are divided into
sections with labels. According to MMSTP, these sections are "group
boxes".>>
Which is a term only a programmer could love, so unless you're
writing for programmers...
<<I know I should not refer to them...>>
Why not? If they serve a useful purpose (grouping information), then
it's certainly legitimate to refer to them. The trick is to think of
them the way users of the software will think, not the way the
programmers would think. Thus:
<<... but in one case there are two group boxes with identical sets
of buttons so I have to say "click the Search button in the Users
group box" or something like that. (What makes it worse in this case
is that the other group box is called "Groups" so I would end up
saying to click the Search button in the Groups group box.) I'm
looking for a synonym for "group box" since I have my doubts that our
users would even know that term. So far, I have considered "section"
and "panel".>>
"Section" works fine, as would "area" and various synonyms. But think
of it from the user's perspective: they're looking for settings or
options or other gizmos they can use to define their needs, probably
grouped under a name that explains the meaning of the group. Thus,
try something like "Enter the User information, then click the Search
button". If you feel you need to be more specific, try "Under the
"User" heading, enter the information you're seeking and click the
Search button."
Note that it's probably really bad interface design to have two
search buttons in one dialog. (If a programmer challenges you on
this, ask them why they don't have one OK button and one Cancel
button for every group box on the screen. They'll get the point.) Far
better to provide a single search button, and let the user define
which category they're searching in based solely on their actions --
that is, based on which fields they fill in or which checkboxes they
select. The software should be smart enough to figure out that's what
the user is look for and search only for what the user "fingered".
----------------------------------------------------
-- Geoff Hart
ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca / geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com
www.geoff-hart.com
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