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I bought a globe that can turn and has a small lamp inside. Whenever that lamp is on you can see the state borders on the globe, when that inner light is off, you can only see the continents without country names and borders.

There are three buttons on the globe's stand:

Button 1: If you push on this button, the globe will start turning;

Button 2: If you push on this one, the globe will stop turning;

Button 3: Pressing this button will turn on/off the lamp (=light) inside the globe;

Here is the question:

Which captions in English would you choose for each one of those three buttons?

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Does this globe really exist, or is it a hypothetical example? It seems odd to have three buttons in this situation. Given the light is already a toggle, why wouldn't a manufacturer use the same type of switch for Spin Start/Stop as well as Light On/Off? – FumbleFingers Apr 27 '11 at 13:41
@FumbleFingers - Yes, it exists except Button 1 besides starting the spin, has the function of choosing between different durations of spin: 5 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, and a non-stop spin. – brilliant Apr 27 '11 at 15:31

1 Answer

up vote 5 down vote accepted
  1. Start Spin
  2. Stop Spin
  3. Lamp

Personally, I wouldn't show the start and stop spin buttons at the same time. If it's not spinning, why show the stop button? That's just confusing and wrong.

I would simplify your UI to

  1. Start | Stop Spin
  2. Light On | Off
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I see. Thank you. – brilliant Apr 27 '11 at 11:49
I took the description to be referring to real, physical buttons that you press. If so, then "showing" or "not showing" them is a nonsense. – Colin Fine Apr 27 '11 at 17:07

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