Add ‘Reverse’ button in unit converters

[ghost]

Problem Statement: We find the unit converters very useful in our daily lives when we have to convert a measurement from one reference unit to another. But sometimes we find it a little limited when we want to study the relationship between two different systems of units. I live in India. We normally use the MKS (metre, kilogram and second) system of units. So I am a little unfamiliar with system followed in the US which consists of yards, miles, gallons etc. When I use the unit converter to know how much a yard measures (in terms of metres), it says: 1 yard = 0.9144 metres Now I wonder how much a metre measures in terms of yards. For this, I have to manually change the reference unit to yards and the required unit to metres in order to have it display: 1 metres = 1.093613 yards I think that there should be a ‘Reverse’ button which would allow us to quickly switch between the reference unit and the required unit.

Evidence or User Insights: This button has already been implemented by many of the calculators and allows quick inter-conversions between the units (one has been shown below). This allows us to have us a quick idea of a new unit by representing a measurement in a given unit in terms of another unit.

The above figure shows the ‘Reverse’ button feature in the unit converter of a very old Samsung GT-E1282T phone.

Proposal: I want a ‘Reverse’ button to be implemented in the Windows Calculator which allows quick switching between the reference unit and the required unit. If the unit converter shows the conversion: 1 inch = 2.54 cm On pressing the ‘Reverse’ button, it should display: 1 cm = 0.393701 inches Similarly for 81 cm = 31.88976, it should display 81 inches = 205.74 cm

Goals: • Implementation of ‘Reverse’ button to switch between units of conversion

Low Fidelity Concept:

On pressing the ‘Reverse’ button, it should display:

Requested Assignment: I am just suggesting this feature. I don’t want to implement it.

[MicrosoftIssueBot]

This is your friendly Microsoft Issue Bot. I've seen this issue come in and have gone to tell a human about it.

[ghost]

This pitch looks like it has everything it needs for review. In the meantime, we'll keep this idea open for discussion so the community has the chance to provide feedback. Check out our New Feedback Process for more info on the user-centered process we follow for new feature development.

[ghost]

Thanks again for submitting your idea! However, after reviewing this pitch more closely, we do not believe it is a great fit for the product at this time. Thank you for your contribution to Calculator!

[grochocki]

@Rahul-Dixit Thank you for your submission! We understand that some of the UI is a bit confusing in unit converters today, and while you provide a great suggestion on how to improve the current experience, we would like to refresh the entire experience. Some of these details are captured in #594.

[ghost]

@grochoki No problem. Thank you for devoting your precious time for this issue.

[ghost]

@grochocki I would be grateful to you if tell me about the shortcomings of this idea, so that I can come up with better ideas next time.

[grochocki]

@Rahul-Dixit There is nothing wrong with the idea you proposed! We thought it was a good amount of detail for a feature pitch. In this particular case, though, we want to overhaul the entire unit converter interface (which probably includes adding a reverse button, just like you proposed). Instead of tracking smaller improvements to the old interface, we would prefer to track that larger overhaul as part of that other approved issue. That is the only reason we declined this pitch.