[Elecraft] SPLIT indicator will use the 10th LED

[n6kr@elecraft.com]

Rod wrote:

> This human interface design stuff can be very tricky. An interesting
> book on the topic is, "The Design of Everyday Things"; Norman, Donald A.

Funny you should mention Don Norman, who was my senior advisor at UCSD (Univ. of 
California, San Diego). I took his Cognitive Engineering class (COG SCI 135) 
during the year that he wrote that book, and I and other students were among 
reviewers of the first draft. I graduated from UCSD with a degree in Cognitive 
Science, and later Don and I worked for the same company (Interval Research). I 
have all of Don's books, so I can probably reflect his position on most areas of 
HCI (human-compter interaction) and ergonomics in general with some accuracy.

I agree with you that using the 10th LED represents a mixing of visual design 
metaphors, and that it's a non-optimal solution. But in view of the importance of 
the problem--some users not noticing that they're in SPLIT mode and/or that they 
have RIT or XIT turned on--it's necessary to find some overt means of indicating 
the system state. The LCD should be used for this, ideally, but so far I haven't 
come up with a way to use it that doesn't compromise other information. 

I've had a lot of private feedback on the SPLIT indication method, and it's 
running about 10:1 in favor of using the LED. This is with the understanding that 
it is strictly optional: you don't have to turn it on if you're happy with the 
flashing chevron. Even *that* method of indicating SPLIT mode evolved over time--
we tried many other conventions. The fact is that there's limited panel space on 
the K2 and no extra outputs, at present, to drive additional LEDs that might be 
positioned more appropriately for this function.

Yes, this user interface stuff is tricky! I'd like to thank everyone for their 
input.

73,
Wayne
N6KR