On 03/21/2011 01:42 PM, Lee Hyde wrote:
As I mentioned previously, I favour these nested vertical menus (for me they're much more intuitive*). Even if, as a fallback for applications which still rely on a menu toolbar (presently the vast majority) it involves a vertical implementation of said menu toolbar (summoned by a single button, or clicking on the window title).
*I find that I intuitively recall the vertical position of a menu item, whereas I don't recall the horizontal position. Am I alone in this? Is this a known phenomenon?
One known phenomenon is that scanning vertical lists tends be faster than scanning horizontally, because the start points are lined up.
But having to hit one target to reveal a 2nd level can't compete with having that level directly accessible. (One might see Marking Menus as an exception, where a little training allows "blind" use.)
Furthermore, nested menus may well be the worst common GUI widgets have to offer (even with some tricks to ease selection of sub-menu items, it still tends to be frustrating).
-- Thorsten Wilms thorwil's design for free software: http://thorwil.wordpress.com/