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Comment by mapreduce | Hacker News Reader

> I can’t find it but one of my favourite designs was a switch with a “light” beside it that lit up when the state was “on.”

So when I revisit that page after a long time and see that the light is lit, does it mean that the state is currently ON or does it mean that the state will change to ON when I click it? How can I tell this by instantly looking at the lit light?

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This interface has both a toggle switch and a light indicator next to it. Both state and action (ish).

The light is independent of the toggle and shows the current state, which is why they mentioned a delay - clicking the toggle doesn't immediately change the light indicator next to it, clicking the toggle tells the system to turn it on and the toggle changes immediately to show desired state, and only after the system changes and sends back "I'm on now" does the light indicator change.

We should go back to checkboxes. The problem here is having the text change and be too clever.

[x] Mute

[ ] Mute

"Oh the X means it's muted"

Windows 95 and probably an older Mac had it all figured out.

"Mute [x]" means that 'mute is false', so I click to make it say "Mute []" but instead you take the "x" away, ... so is mute no longer false?? If sound isn't working then this can be difficult to determine. You can fix it with a tooltip and/or familiarity with the system.

Buttons have more affordance too.

Use an adjective?

  [ ] Muted
  [x] Muted

... just the one adjective?

I don't follow - what do you think is missing?

Something other than muted; both your options are the same.

I see! Those were two 'screenshots' of the same setting, one in selected state and one in unselected state, following the example of a post upthread. They were not two different settings - yes, that would probably be poor UI design! I've seen worse.

Ohhh, I get it now, okay

I would not use that word because it is a negative, so it makes the user think. "Mic on" and "Mic off" are better.

On is active.

Just like most devices with signal lights — which have been that way for decades. Historically, the lights are signaling power being supplied.

It's also quite common to have a light indicator that goes away when the device is turned on. TVs often do this - they have an indicator LED to show that they are plugged in, but turn that LED off when the screen is turned on, because it can be distracted, and is anyway no longer needed.

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