[Sigia-l] drop down menus

[Fiorito, David]

> The audience learns the language of a particular media over time.  In
> cinema, artistic genius expanded the common language and as a result the
> art.  Would the use of usability studies in the instance of drop down
menus
> hinder the development of the internet by stifling creativity?  Must we
> limit the audience to their current understanding and expectation of the
> media?


Limit them to their current expectation?  No?  But why should standards and
usability stifle creativity?  

Lets look at books.  Does it stifle creativity to place the table of
contents at the front and the index at the back of a book?  Does it stifle
creativity to have the page numbers count up as we turn pages to the left?
Should the text always flow from the top of the page to the bottom?

I think a common set of standards will emerge (and is emerging) for the web
as well.

Cheers, 

Dave