pointer

A tool that turns the cursor into a sampler so a colour can be picked from anywhere on screen, usually with a magnified preview of the pixel under it.

A rich preview panel that appears on hover over a link or an avatar, summarising what is behind it.

A round control turned by dragging in an arc, borrowed from hardware and mostly found in audio and creative tools.

A menu whose items sit around the point of invocation, so a choice is made by direction and distance rather than by reading a list.

A drawing area that captures a handwritten signature by pointer or touch, with a clear control and a baseline to sign on.

A brief text label shown on hover or keyboard focus that names or explains the element it points at, and carries nothing you can interact with.

A link or button that shows more when a reader shows interest in it, by hovering, focusing or long pressing, with no click and no script deciding what interest means.

A burst of repeated clicks on one spot, the shape frustration takes when a control answers nothing, and the analytics signal that goes looking for it.

A click that both focuses an inactive surface and reaches the control underneath, instead of being spent activating the window first.

A menu of actions for one specific object, opened on that object by right click, long press, or the context menu key.

A range of input near the resting position that is deliberately ignored, so tiny unintended movement produces no response at all.

Two clicks inside a short interval on the same spot, treated as one gesture that opens, edits, or selects a word rather than activating twice.

The small distance a pointer must travel while pressed before the gesture counts as a drag, so a shaky click is not mistaken for one.

Committing an action by keeping a pointer or gaze still on a target for a set time, for input methods that have no click of their own.

The rule that the time to hit a target grows with its distance and shrinks with its size, which is why screen edges and corners are so easy to reach.

A focus model in which whatever the pointer is over receives keyboard input, without any click to claim it first.

A press whose depth is part of the input, letting a harder press mean something different from a light one on a pressure sensing surface.

Invisible padding that extends a control's activatable area beyond its drawn bounds, so a small icon can stay small and still be easy to hit.

Working out which element sits under a pointer, which decides who receives the event when shapes overlap or transparent areas are in the way.

A pointer resting over an element without pressing, a state that exists for mice and pens but has no true equivalent on touch.

Waiting out a short delay or watching cursor direction before acting on a hover, so a pointer merely passing through does not open anything.

Spatial input where the eyes choose the target and a finger pinch commits the action, so selection and activation come from different body parts.

A radial menu that can be answered before it appears: waiting shows the menu, while a confident stroke in the item's direction selects it outright.

A press of the scroll wheel button, conventionally used to open a link in a new tab, close a tab, or start autoscrolling.

A key held to change what another input means, so the same click or keystroke can copy instead of move, or add instead of replace.

A command issued by the shape of a pointer stroke, usually with a button held, so a movement stands in for a menu choice.

Redirecting all events for one pointer to a chosen element, so a drag keeps reaching the control it started on even when it wanders off.

Hiding the cursor and reading only its movement deltas, so input keeps flowing past the edges of the screen instead of stopping at them.

The look a control takes while it is actually being held down, confirming that the press was received before the action runs.

Reading how hard a pen or finger presses, plus tilt and twist, so stroke weight and behaviour vary with the shape of the contact.

A numeric field whose label can be dragged sideways to change the value, giving a slider's feel without a slider taking up room.

The alternate pointer press, usually the right button or a two-finger tap, reserved for opening contextual actions rather than activating.

A hover style that stays applied on a touch device after a tap, because there is no pointer to leave and clear the state.

The area of a control that answers a press, padded out around whatever is drawn so a fingertip can hit it without catching its neighbours.

Rotating a card in perspective toward the pointer so it appears to tip in three dimensions, often with a moving highlight to sell the depth.

A dot or ring that trails the pointer with a lag and often swells over links, replacing or augmenting the native cursor as a piece of brand motion.

Scaling each item in a row by how close the pointer is to it, so the item under the cursor swells, its neighbours ramp down, and the row reads as bulging.

A card or button that rises a few pixels and deepens its shadow while the pointer is over it, so the whole surface reads as lifted toward the reader.

A control that leans toward the cursor as it approaches, translating a fraction of the distance to its centre so it reads as attracted rather than merely hovered.

A soft radial glow centred on the pointer's position inside a card, lighting its surface and border as the cursor moves and going dark when the cursor leaves.

A focus style shown only when focus arrived by keyboard or another non-pointer route, so a mouse click does not leave a ring behind.

The three conditions content revealed on hover or focus must meet: reachable with the pointer, dismissible without moving focus, and not self-closing.

Activating a control on pointer release rather than press, so someone who lands on the wrong target can slide off and abort.

The exception that lets an undersized control pass when no other target falls inside a 24 pixel circle centred on it, trading size for clearance.