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CHAPTER 4
Pickers
4-6 List Pickers
Applications should not attempt to imitate the interface of personal computers
by dimming unavailable picker items. Although applications can designate
picker items as unselectable, the system does not display them in gray text or
otherwise make them visibly different from selectable items. Newton picker
items should simply disappear when they are unavailable.
Organization of List Pickers 4
The items in a list picker should be logically related to each other and to the
label, button, or whatever else controls the picker. Arrange the items in a list
picker in an order that makes sense and is most convenient to users. In
general, start the list with the items most likely to be picked and end the list
with the items least likely to be picked. If all items are equally likely to be
picked, or if you want to arrange them without prejudice or bias, list them
alphabetically.
You can organize a list picker visually, making it easier to locate an item by
grouping related items. In a picker that contains several types of items—
actions, attributes, values, and states—group the items according to type. In
a picker that contains a single type of item, look for another criterion. For
instance, the Printer picker in a Print routing slip lists specific printers in one
group and commands that access other printers in a second group. The Look
For picker in the Find slip has two groups: one for finding text and another
for dates.
You put a separator line between groups of items in a list picker. How many
separator lines to use is partially an aesthetic decision. Remember that separator
lines take up screen space and that the Newton interface relies on aesthetic
integrity as a means of good communication. Figure 4-4 contrasts a good
balance of grouping with too little grouping and too much grouping.