[Sigia-l] Arrows and Sort Order

[Leah Buley]

Hello,

I'm having an argument with a co-worker about up and down arrows as visual 
cues for sort order. Specifically, would most users interpret

A
B
C
D

as

/\
||

or

||
\/

Does anyone know of a de facto standard for this? For instance, are users 
more likely to interpret the arrow as a visual echo of the direction of the 
column, or as ascending/descending indicators? And does the arrow's head 
signify the beginning or the end?  My co-worker feels that Microsoft's 
method (whatever the logic) has become the standard by virtue of ubiquity.  
I'm wondering if other research challenges this. Anyone know?

(Please be gentle. This is my first posting to the list.)

Thanks,

Leah Buley
ugleah at hotmail.com

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