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Outline/reference on the left, work on the right; skeuomorphism or deeper reasons?
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Posted by Paul J. Miller
Aug 26, 2018 at 09:49 AM
Paul J. Miller wrote:
I have tried it both ways round and I always find I am more comfortable
>with the notes/text on the right and the tree/outline on the left. I
>don’t know if this is a result of my culture or not.
>
Maybe it’s just because I’m used to seeing it that way !
Maybe if I persisted with the reversed setup I would get used to it.
Posted by Hugh
Aug 26, 2018 at 10:52 AM
Paul J. Miller wrote:
>
>Paul J. Miller wrote:
>I have tried it both ways round and I always find I am more comfortable
>>with the notes/text on the right and the tree/outline on the left. I
>>don’t know if this is a result of my culture or not.
>>
>
>Maybe it’s just because I’m used to seeing it that way !
>
>Maybe if I persisted with the reversed setup I would get used to it.
>
I’m the same. Isn’t it a cultural “accustomisation” in the Western world? From the early days of learning to read, my eyes and brain have become accustomed to scanning for sense from left to right, and, furthermore, from scanning from macro on the left to micro on the right. The indentation of indented lists works that way; even, for me, horizontal mind-maps look awkward if the “head-node” is on the right.
Posted by Alexander Deliyannis
Aug 26, 2018 at 01:23 PM
Hugh wrote:
>I’m the same. Isn’t it a cultural “accustomisation” in the Western
>world? From the early days of learning to read, my eyes and brain have
>become accustomed to scanning for sense from left to right, and,
>furthermore, from scanning from macro on the left to micro on the right.
>The indentation of indented lists works that way;
Indeed. My understanding is that two-pane outliners evolved from one-pane outliners, which themselves are an active version (collapse/expand) of indented lists, so the paradigm has been maintained.
>even, for me, horizontal mind-maps look awkward if the “head-node” is on the right.
I believe that Tony Buzan’s original concept of mind maps foresees their omnidirectional development in an effort to provide multiple perspectives of the central topic. While software implementations provide additional ‘formats’, these usually represent limitations of the original concept, e.g. ‘affinity’ (top down), left to right, ‘funnel’ (right to left). The latter was discussed sometime ago here https://www.outlinersoftware.com/topics/viewt/6428
Posted by Alexander Deliyannis
Aug 26, 2018 at 01:30 PM
Paul Korm wrote:
It seems most apps that have an “inspector” for adjusting
>settings in a document will place the inspector on the right of the
>screen. In several mind mapping apps, the Notes inspector and outline
>view is included in the inspector panel, and thus also on the right.
>XMind and iMindMap come to mind.
This may be related to the inspector panel being added along with properties, notes, and similar secondary panels, which usually appear on the right. In MindGenius, where the Map Explorer has its own area, it appears on the left http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/software/51118/mindgenius-4-review
Posted by Ken
Aug 27, 2018 at 10:29 PM
While I also tend to work “left to right”, there are some applications, like My Life Organized, that have information panes on the right. Perhaps this is not inconsistent with the L to R philosophy, as it can “center” the main work area if there is also a pane to the left, but I sometimes find it awkward. And, there has been a big trend in web blog layouts (e.g. WordPress) to move the side pane from the left to the right. I tend to prefer a left pane for navigation, but it is starting to look a bit “old school” if you look at new designs.
—Ken