Mouse Pointers & Fitts's Law - Computerphile

Computerphile
2 HN recommenders · recommended in 3 months, 2015–2023
YouTube
480K views · 11 years ago · explainer · evergreen

Computerphile explains Fitts's law, which predicts how quickly people can hit a target with a pointer based on its size and distance. It shows why screen edges and corners are easy to reach and what that means for interface layout.

HN people share it as the simplest explanation of Fitts's law for programmers, and as evidence when arguing about desktop UI choices like thin scrollbars.

“Much better explanation for CS people here”
Psychology for designersInput devices & novel interfaces
#fitts'slaw#mousepointer#targetsize#uiergonomics#hci

5 comments from Hacker News

s
@simula672018 · in “Visualizing Fitts's Law (2007)”
Previous discussion : link I posted this in previous discussion too, a much simpler explanation : ▶ this video
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s
@simula672016 · in “Fitt's Law”
Much better explanation for CS people here : ▶ this video This is why I gave up my second monitor.
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d
@davidbarker2015 · in “Mouse Pointers and Fitts's Law”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
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2
@2h2023 · in “Evolution of the Scrollbar”
you forgot Windows 11, the worst of them all. 1/3 the width of Windows 10, AND it auto hides. who in gods name could have possibly thought this was a good idea? what are you helping? width is RARELY the problem with desktop real estate, its always height. so you're freeing up space that doesn't need to be freed up. I get the thinking for a mobile device, but we are talking about Windows 11, its a desktop operating system. stop designing assuming everything needs to look exactly like an iPhone. for a desktop OS, its just objectively, scientifically worse: ▶ this video
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2
@2h2023 · in “Fluent 2 Design System”
its not a matter of liking it. at least on desktop, its objectively, scientifically bad: ▶ this video
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