Sphinn - The 13 Usability Guidelines for Tabs

28
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Went Hot: September 17, 2007 - 4:45 pm
Posted By: DoshDosh 657 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://www.useit.com)
Category: Usability

It's a rare pleasure to come across a user interface on the Web that uses dialog controls correctly. Even something as simple as radio buttons and checkboxes are incorrectly used half the time. And let's not even get started on drop-down menus, which are horribly abused, or the homemade scrollbars that deface most Flash sites.

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from jimbeetle 657 days ago #

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Interesting and as most always with Nielsen, a good read.

I just can't agree with guideline #1:

"It uses tabs to alternate between views within the same context (not to navigate to different areas — a common mistake introduced by Amazon.com)."

I don't know where that guideline came from. I have a box of 5 by 8 inch file cards sitting on my desk with ten years' worth of ideas for one site. Ideas for each section of the site are separated the way I've been taught to do it since grammar school -- by tabs.

In my view, Amazon actually took something that folks were familiar with and translated it to the web, using it the same way people did in the real world.

Of course, his guidelines for using tabs as in the Y! examples appear to be very solid.

from Webclimb 657 days ago #

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If you shouldn't use tabs to navigate to different areas then what should you use. I always thought is was rather logical. A tab for each main section of a site. I tab attracts a users attention to different areas of the site.

from mjwalshe 656 days ago #

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Quite Jim Quite

Sounds like he's gone off on some self inveted "Standard" track where you try to retcon your views onto the rest of the internet.

The attempt to hijack .org just for American not for profits a few years back - is another example.