Tuesday, July 11, 2017

drag n drop - What do the 3 close horizontal bars (not hamburger menu) represent and what is the origin of the design?


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For some reason, those 3 horizontal bars centered in this Jabber client application is something I associate with something you can drag down, but I can't remember at all why I associate 3 bars with something that can be pulled down.


My question is, what do these 3 horizontal bars represent universally, and when did it start doing so? I think I also remember seeing this symbol somewhere on Apple phones but also don't remember where exactly.



Answer



It is a skeumorphic depiction of notching, indicating that the area can be pulled/dragged. Similar to the notching on the end of the gun slide (providing extra grip to the fingers).


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This appeared as early as Windows 98 (see the bottom right corner of window).


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Edit: This is not unique to guns, but more of an industrial design technique. See here the battery pack slides out the bottom:



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This slide plate from a sewing machine has similar grooves for fingers to pull on:


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