this post was submitted on 04 May 2025
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Showerthoughts

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Assuming that the mouse pointer is parallel to the display and that a light themes is used, the visual click zone is positioned below and to the right of the upper left corner.

E: correct content

E₂ (correction): The visual click zone should be more than 1 px², but it's not misaligned.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Best way I could come up representing what i believe OP may have been talking about.

Think of the top small floating line as the "real" mouse pointer, and the black line at the bottom as the screen where the "content" is. The shadow of the floating pointer (grey line) is what OP implies should actually interact with the screen. Not the tip of the "floating" pointer.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Not if you imagine that the cursor is hovering above the screen, and each click is like a virtual instantaneous drop to the screen to make the click.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I want to see someone animate that

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

Sorry not an animation.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If I understand correctly then you are assuming that the mouse cursor is hovering and not just thick.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

Good take, I vote the mouse crusor on screen is just thick.

Thus there is no "misalignment" at the pointer tip and the screen or shadow "below" the mouse crusor.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That’s only assuming the observer is at the location of the source of the light.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

But then you wouldn't see the shadow.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I don't really get what you're saying. Maybe a picture would help? Having worked with mouse pointers for three decades, I'm pretty sure it's either correct, or if you disagree then what you're choosing as the click pixel is arbitrary, and pointer style and implementation dependent. In any case, the user will generally learn the specific click behaviour very quickly, usually without even thinking about it.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 days ago (2 children)

If there is a drop shadow, then when you click, the click should be on the shadows point, not the "floating" triangles/mouses point.

The point here is the outmost point on the triangle of the mouse ofc. The position that "clicks".

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

In the cursor metatada you can specify where the click occurs. Personally I always assumed the click would happen at the tip of the arrow, not the shadow below.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I think I understand the pixel you are referring too, it may be diagonally adjacent to the click pixel.

I’m not sure I understand ‘why’ post OP suggests that should be the ‘correct’ click pixel?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

A drop shadow implies that the object is floating above a plane. If you have an object floating above a plane, it would need to drop to the plane to interact with it, so the interaction point should be the tip of the shadow, not the tip of the cursor.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago

But the cursor 'dropping' wouldn't move it to where the shadow is? The light source is not directly above the cursor so the shadow is offset.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Depending on the relative direction of the light and "camera", the click point could vary. It wouldn't be on the tip of the shadow unless the shadow was already directly below the tip of the pointer in line with the line of sight. More likely it would fall somewhere "between" the apparent position of shadow and pointer before clicking.