Katie Albers wrote in another thread: "Let's take a really obvious example: Every test I've ever seen shows that people are measurably faster using a mouse-based interface than a command-based interface. At an extremely high level of expertise both in typing and in the app, people do, in fact, become faster using the commands... but "membership" in this group is much smaller than the number of people who believe they are in the group. Thus, we have people using commands when the menus would be faster for them, and swearing by their mothers and their puppies that the commands are faster..."
Hello Katie, When you tested the menus, were those contextual (accessed via right-click or, perhaps, data mouseover) or global (action bar at the top of the app) menus? I am working on the application, where command line interface seems to be a more efficient way to perform tasks. Context: this is a data processing application used by operators every day all day long, hundreds of commands (hence unwieldy global menu structure), CLI is used with predictive typing and "cheat-sheet" list of commands. I think in this case a combination of CLI for all commands with *some* contextual menus should be more efficient. Here is an interesting article by Richard Wareham suggesting that "discussion-based" CLI is easier to learn due to high consistency, focus on specific task and paucity of choices: http://www.osnews.com/story/6282; and another one in the same vein "The Paradox of the Assisted User: Guidance can be Counterproductive": http://www.cs.uu.nl/docs/vakken/uem/2-vannimwegen%20et%20al.%20CHI%202006.pdf. Quote: "Our research shows that a computer mediated task can take advantage of interfaces that are designed from considerations that run deeper than plain usability... Our findings, especially if extended to even more realistic tasks can be valuable ... when ... making as little mistakes as possible or speed are important." Thanks, Oleh Kovalchuke Interaction Design is design of time http://www.tangospring.com/IxDtopicWhatIsInteractionDesign.htm On Sat, Mar 21, 2009 at 12:43 PM, Katie Albers <[email protected]>wrote: Let's back up a step here...why does stuff have to be measurable? Is it no longer possible to assess without numbers? On the whole (and yes, I acknowledge that there are significant exceptions) the SMART methodology did design no service. There are things we know or notice that are simply ineluctable. To say something is "better" is an explicitly non-measurable statement. There are decisions we make that are in spite of data to the contrary...and they result in something "better". Let's take a really obvious example: Every test I've ever seen shows that people are measurably faster using a mouse-based interface than a command-based interface. At an extremely high level of expertise both in typing and in the app, people do, in fact, become faster using the commands... but "membership" in this group is much smaller than the number of people who believe they are in the group. Thus, we have people using commands when the menus would be faster for them, and swearing by their mothers and their puppies that the commands are faster. You can demonstrate to them that they are slower this way and they will simply not believe you (although some of the reasons" people come up with are really entertaining). Take away their commands, and you will get a lot of people dropping out. If one of the data points you're supposed to be designing to is speed of use, do you take away the commands anyway? (Mind you, I don't think anyone in this field will probably acknowledge being one of those who benefits from menus, so it's almost impossible to get them to consider the possibility of removing the commands anyway). How do you reconcile data and design (in its broadest sense) here? Why do you need to? Why do we have this aversion to simply admitting that people have non-measurable, but critically important, preferences and we need to acknowledge those and incorporate them into design? (Obviously, in the case of commands, we do just that, but often that's more a matter of default than decision.) Katie Albers Founder & Principal Consultant FirstThought User Experience Strategy & Project Management 310 356 7550 [email protected] ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [email protected] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
