CHAPTER 2
Container Views
2-16 Auxiliary Views
Movable slips should have matte borders, and stationary slips should not.
For instance, routing slips are stationary and have special striped borders.
Border styles are described in “View Border” on page 2-6.
A slip contains text and controls and may contain icons, pictures, and input
fields. Each slip contains some text to indicate the purpose of the slip and
what caused the slip to appear. In some cases this text is a title for the slip.
Most slips have a Close box or large Close box in the bottom right corner,
and some slips have additional primary controls at the bottom. For instance,
a Close box alone is not enough in a slip whose purpose is to prepare for and
initiate an action. In this case users must be presented with a choice for
dismissing the slip: take action or cancel. A text button named with a verb
such as Do or Find clearly means “Take this action with the settings I’ve
made in this slip.” A large Close box located next to one of those take-action
buttons thus means “Ignore these settings and cancel the action.” The
alternative combination of buttons—a text button named Cancel to mean
“cancel” next to a large Close box to mean “take action”—is ambiguous.
Figure 2-15 compares these two alternatives.
Figure 2-15 Dismissing slips that complete actions
Better—
Clear
choice
Worse—
Vague
choice
Take specific action
Close (don’t take action)
Cancel
Close (take action?)