This is a bit of Ye Olde Schoole, but in '95 we were migrating a "green
screen" commandline-driven online equity trading system (one of the first:
Instinet) from keyboard-only entry to this newfangled, glitzy, graphical
Windows interface. One of the major challenges - and a design mandate - was
to include the keyboard shortcuts along with the gooey/mousey UI.
And with good reason: The experienced traders could execute a trade task in
no time flat - in an environment that values speed and is very keyboard
friendly. They already knew the keystroke shortcuts and the Ticker symbols
by heart. They didn't want to be slowed my mousing around or learning a new
interaction mode, for that matter. And they were, of course, generating
money hand over fist (That was then, this is now...)
How many of us DON'T use keyboard shortcuts for simple repetitive tasks that
share a common keyboard convention across multiple apps, like delete, cut &
paste? Have you ever tried to fill out an online form that DOESN'T conform
to tab-order conventions?
IMHO (It's an oversimplification, but):
Browsey page-wandering features lend themselves to the mouse. Doing
relatively complex stuff (esp. texty content entry & management) can be
improved tremendously by effective keyboard shortcut tools.
The mouse-oriented interface serves newbies. High octane "professional"
users often prefer the keyboard for speed.
Seems obvious, but Web design is often Seduced by the Rodent.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Angel Marquez" <angel.marq...@gmail.com>
To: "Oleh Kovalchuke" <tangospr...@gmail.com>
Cc: "IxDA" <disc...@ixda.org>
Sent: Monday, March 23, 2009 3:06 PM
Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Command line vs. menu driven interface
When using a command line and I identify a reoccurring task or navigation
pattern(s) I either create a shell script or create an alias in the
.bashrc
When using the UI I've used nothing but quick keys to navigate and execute
OS & apps never touching the mouse. It is extremely faster. I've had
supervisors (more than one) say it took me a day what it took others
months
to do.
I use both for different modes of thinking that suite my individual needs.
If someone wanted do the opposite of me I wouldn't punish them for it and
I
wouldn't expect anyone else to rock like I do.
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