[Novalug] Interfaces (was Re: What to put on a G4 Laptop?)

[Bonnie Dalzell]

On Fri, 27 Feb 2009, Geoff McNamara wrote:

GM >I will contend that the "intuitive" property of an interface is only one
GM >important aspect - the other is "productivity".
GM >
GM >My wife could do accounting input without ever taking her hand off of the
GM >keyboard in a text based environment. When the gui interface came along
GM >with the mouse and "window frame heaven" - where everything would "work
GM >the same" and therefore be intuitive - it hammered her productivity. No
GM >longer could she get work done with the efficiency she could before - the
GM >gui environment required constant attention to the screen and hands
GM >switching from the keyboard to the mouse and back to the keyboard.  In the
GM >text world it was almost a requirement to have shortcuts for every menu
GM >item - now you have to hunt for them or create your own.
GM >
GM >I apologize for sliding off topic and inviting perhaps another religious
GM >flame war but I have always felt strongly about the need to pay attention
GM >to productivity of an interface.

even in a window environment one should be able to do all key board work 
for most things other than graphics.

here on my ubuntu desktop i can move from window to window using alt and 
tab together. of course it was not obvious to figure out and I am not 
sure what commands might open the gui menus on the menu bar.

everthing working the same still should mean the keyboard shortcuts are 
also the same. if not disaster can be on the horizon.

one of the very earliest experiences i had with this was years ago when I 
encountered a text editor whose command for close down without saving was 
"control s"

GM >
GM >-geoff mcnamara
GM >
GM >
GM >>  On Fri, 27 Feb 2009, rarob at comcast.net wrote:
GM >>
GM >>  > <snip>
GM >>  > ----- Original Message -----
GM >>  >
GM >>  >
GM >>  > In terms of computer use, "intuitive", is in my opinion based mostly on
GM >>  > past experience. There is nothing in our lives that really mimics using
GM >> a
GM >>  > computer.
GM >>  >
GM >>  > <snip>
GM >>  >
GM >>  > I wonder if there have been any studies about that.  I agree with you
GM >> btw.
GM >>  >
GM >>
GM >>   About 10 years ago Nathaniel Borenstein was a HCI prof at U-Mich
GM >> and tried to determine/develop an intuitive user interface.
GM >>
GM >>   After a semester or so of work, the conclusion was that whatever
GM >> you learned first was intuitive, and everything else was wrong, or
GM >> at least strange.
GM >>
GM >>   I don't believe this work was ever published.
GM >>
GM >>   I think we might be approaching something obvious with the
GM >> wand and 2-finger things coming from the wii and related work.
GM >>
GM >>   One problem is that the most efficient tools are divorced from
GM >> their real-world analogs.
GM >>
GM >>   A keyboard is very non-intuitive for a way to write. Graffiti is more
GM >> intuitive, and a lot slower than typing.  Chording keyboards look
GM >> interesting, but I understand they are even harder than a QWERTY keyboard
GM >> to learn to use.
GM >>
GM >>   A trackball/mouse/pencil eraser/whatever is not like pointing
GM >> your finger, or just moving your eyes to gain focus on something, but
GM >> these are the best tools for pointers we've developed to date.
GM >>
GM >>   In a WIMP mode - the idea of a display on a set of goggles,
GM >> with a finger gadget to move the windows to the center, instead of
GM >> moving your head to look at the various windows might be closer
GM >> to the real-world thing we're emulating.
GM >>
GM >>   Or maybe not.
GM >>
GM >>   Clif
GM >>
GM >>
GM >> --
GM >> ... Clif Flynt ... http://www.cwflynt.com ... clif at cflynt.com ...
GM >> .. Tcl/Tk: A Developer's Guide (2nd edition) - Morgan Kauffman ..
GM >> ... 16'th Annual Tcl/Tk Conference:  2009,  Portland, OR  USA ...
GM >> .............  http://www.tcl.tk/community/tcl2009/  ............
GM >>
GM >>
GM >>
GM >>
GM >>
GM >> _______________________________________________
GM >> Novalug mailing list
GM >> Novalug at calypso.tux.org
GM >> http://calypso.tux.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/novalug
GM >>
GM >
GM >
GM >_______________________________________________
GM >Novalug mailing list
GM >Novalug at calypso.tux.org
GM >http://calypso.tux.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/novalug
GM >

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                       Bonnie Dalzell, MA
mail:5100 Hydes Rd PO Box 60, Hydes,MD,USA 21082-0060|EMAIL:bdalzell at qis.net

freelance anatomist, vertebrate paleontologist, writer, illustrator, dog
breeder, computer nerd & iconoclast... Borzoi info at www.borzois.com.
Editor Net.Pet Online Animal Magazine  - http://www.netpetmagazine.com
HOME http://www.qis.net/~borzoi/          BUSINESS http://www.batw.com