On May 10, 2007, at 3:12 PM, Arnaud Nicolet wrote:

> A new user has no reason to think the return key and enter key do the
> same action. I always wondered why they should make the same action.
> An "old" user can learn quickly.

But on PC keyboards they are both labelled "enter". Wouldn't a naive  
person assume they did the same thing? Of course this is not the case  
in every circumstance but it is easy to understand when it comes to  
first impressions with many people.

Most times it is up to the software to determine the end result. When  
a person sees a default key and pressing either enter key triggers  
it, is it not common sense to assume that that should always be the  
case?

When one action in an application's default button is not the same as  
another, is it correct to assume that a user will automatically  
understand the difference? True, by trial and error they will  
eventually learn.

In my recent job of 27 years, a simple error in typing or a mouse  
press could result in a loss to the company of many thousands of  
dollars in a matter of seconds. I spent many hours and much personal  
time to help the "techs" writing the software that ran the operation  
to make it more user friendly and safer, from a financial aspect, for  
the company. I have earned a great respect from management for doing  
this.

I guess that is why I question RS's dismissal of such a simple  
problem so quickly. What seems natural to one who knows is not  
necessarily what one who doesn't know would do automatically.  
Impressions are made when one works with an application based on  
their experiences, not by what another feels is a correct way to do  
things. Since the economy runs more on impressions than logic, is it  
not prudent to eliminate anything that can create unfavourable ones?

Just my opinions.

Terry

PS. No use flogging a dead horse either. ;-)

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