Consequently, users can figure out how to use objects with strong affordance just by looking at them and trying them.īuttons and sliders have strong affordanceīy contrast, objects with poor affordance are harder to figure out. We humans have an innate understanding of how the human hand works, so if something looks like it can be pushed, we try to push it if it looks like it can be grabbed, we try to grab it. The pointer acts as a proxy for the hand, allowing users to interact with screen objects much like they would with physical objects. Well-designed user interface (UI) objects are said to have affordance, which are visual and behavioral properties of an object that suggest how it is used. Pointer-based interaction has been successful because it is intuitive and allows for a rich variety of experiences. The mouse has been a successful input device because it is easy to use for the typical human hand. The caret Design concepts The mouse is intuitive The caret is independent of the pointer (by default, Windows hides the pointer while the user is typing).

The caret is the flashing vertical bar that is displayed when the user is typing into a text box or other text editor. Typically, the hot zone coincides with the borders of an object, but it may be larger to make user's intent easier to perform. Objects define a hot zone, which is the area where the hot spot is considered to be over the object. The hot spot determines which object is affected by mouse actions. For most interactions, pressing a mouse button while the cursor is over a target indicates the selected target, and releasing the button performs any action associated with the target.Īll pointers, except the busy pointer, have a single pixel hot spot that defines the exact screen location of the mouse. By positioning the pointer and clicking the primary and secondary buttons on the mouse, users can select objects and perform actions on them. Mouse devices often have a primary button (usually the left button), a secondary button (usually the right), and a mouse wheel between the two. The pointer has a variety of shapes to indicate its current behavior. Physically moving the mouse moves the graphic pointer (also referred to as the cursor) on the screen. Guidelines related to accessibility, pen, and touch are presented in separate articles.

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