Zooming IE7

Aside from rendering bugs and no Fit to Width capability, it’s deceptively complicated to use.

Cyclic Statusbar Dropdown Toggle Button Thing

In the statusbar is a button which initially says 100%. Here’s what happens when you interact with it.

What’s That Down There?

What does 100% mean? It’s next to the status bar, so is it something technical I don’t need to worry about? Connection strength?

Nevermind

Typical users do not think “Hmm, wonder what that is. I’ll click it and find out. ” They only notice things which seem of immediate use. Everything else is filtered out. I expect users never notice this button, despite it being in the top layer chrome. My parents certainly haven’t.

Curiosity Killed the User Expection

So let’s say the user is feeling particularly adventurous today. Maybe they are a novice who has yet to be bitten by clicking the wrong button. They click the button and the page expands a bit. The button now says 125%.

(No notes.)

Ideas

Use the UI familiar from other document viewers. 3 controls, in this order:

  1. Zoom In
  2. 100%
  3. Zoom Out

Using HTML form controls, it’s like this:

No more 3-stage cyclic toggling. No more progressive disclosure via a popup menu indicated by a tiny, upside-down triangle.

Just 2 complementary buttons whose text clearly describes what will happen in familiar terms, with the current zoom level displayed between them. It also lets advanced users type a precise zoom level. Bonus.