UI Review: Ad Council on Global Warming
Notes on an ad I saw on the side of a muni bus this morning (See the original here):
The problem here with checkboxes is that the user is not required to select either of them. They could leave them both blank, or even check them both off (and what would that mean?). Given that the choices are mutually exclusive, radio buttons (or even a drop-down) would be more appropriate.
Add to that the fact that they didn’t freaking buy globalwarming.com (it’s a squatter site) and if they did, they probably wouldn’t want you to fight it (or any website), they’d want you fight the phenomenon. The “.com” is beyond gratuitous, it’s stupid and nonsensical.
Adam Rice
12 Dec 07 at 7:18 pm
ok here’s my tiff with radio buttons. Radio Buttons imply some sort of choice, except not choosing. Also, two simultaneously symboitic yet diametrically opposed ideas are always presented as choices. Every time i see a radio button it reminds me of how i view radio. The radio is this thing promissing music, yet spitting out Don Imus and Brittany Spears. yet silence in my car forces me to deal with the unpleasant phenomena of stupid people. So inevitably i end up switching on the damned radio and arrive at my destination with less faith in humanity. So you tell me, is it some corporate philosophy of co-opting the Two-Party “damed if you do, damed if you do” type politcal schema as applied to marketing surveys, questionaires, and/or other crap? If so, why should otherwise lefty coders fall for this black and white binary co-option by the man? I mean seriously, assuming the data trying to be collected is meaningful, don’t you some how lessen its potency by this reductionist drivel of a collection device by definition. Seriously, and im not kidding here, FERK RADIO BUTTONS and see how many Macarthy-ist Babies pop out…FERK IT SIDEWAYS WITH A BIG MICK JAGGER!!!!
dungsta
13 Dec 07 at 5:12 pm
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dungsta
13 Dec 07 at 5:26 pm