On 1/6/06, David W. Fenton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On 6 Jan 2006 at 14:04, Brad Beyenhof wrote: >> On 1/6/06, David W. Fenton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >>> And it seems to me that there oughtn't be any reason not to have >>> such a menu choice in both locations. >> >> But if you follow that logic to its conclusion, you'll put discovery >> paths to each dialog in multiple locations that might seem equally >> useful. With every feature accessible from multiple places, there will >> be so many choices that *nothing* will be easy to find! > > I don't get it.
I'm just saying that including a feature at multiple points in the menus will add to the number of choices in those menus, therefore requiring the user to look through more menu options while attemptng to find the desired function. > Have you ever written software? Or designed a web page? I've not actually written software, but I've developed it (and left the actual coding to those who knew the language). And I've written a few simple web pages. > Actually, that latter is a good one. > > Consider a CONTACT link on a web page. Most websites put it on every > single page, and the link goes to a single page. Is that confusing? > Of course not! What would be confusing was if you could only get to > the CONTACT page by navigating to a single one of the many pages on a > website. Yes, but the CONTACT link is generally in the same place on each page. The user can find it easily, and does not have to wade through a different group of options on each page to discover it. > Some things belong in only one location, some work well in multiple > contexts. I'm not disputing that. I'm just thinking out loud here; I haven't recommended or expressed preference for any one course of action. (Well, I suppose I just did in my reply to Owain, opting for the complete user-oriented overhaul.) I'm just thinking about the users, and their ease in discovering the options they need, and whether that ease (or lack thereof) has an effect on the number of support calls MakeMusic! has to field. I admit that a complete re-do of the UI has the potential to draw a great number of support requests, but it would almost be better to do it all at once than draw it out over a number of years. Again, I'm not arguing that anybody's approach here in UI redesign is wrongm just considering the ease-of-use resulting from the various options discussed. -- Brad Beyenhof Real-time Finale discussion: http://www.finaleirc.com my blog: http://augmentedfourth.blogspot.com Silence will save me from being wrong (and foolish), but it will also deprive me of the possibility of being right. ~ Igor Stravinsky _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
