Harold Fuchs wrote: > If you really want to enhance the UI, implement the facility where > ***every*** possible option is available from the keyboard so that real > typists don't have to keep switching between it and the mouse.
+1 > ... There's an > ancient organisation in Japan responsible for inventing and improving the > "algorithms" used on a Japanese abacus (which is different from either a > Chinese one or a Russian one). Years and years ago they discovered that the > most time consuming activity when using an abacus is the *attention* switch > (not the finger switch) required to move from one column of beads to > another. Minimising the number of such moves can drastically improve > performance. ... +10 Attention / brain seconds are *very limited* Burn those up just managing a task and there is nothing left for the task. Look at the suffocating fish look that people get after fiddling with M$ UIs for a few hours. > If done properly you could even make the same key combination mean different > things in different contexts so you wouldn't run out of keys. See WordStar menus. > Do you use professional "usability labs"? These are organisations that get > people in off the street to try to use a piece of software. Typically the > people don't have any training. They are observed & interviewed to find what > comes easily and what doesn't. The results are used to improve the > software's UI. I have usually found them very useful. +1 --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
