Keying error!! ;-) ;-).
I'm terribly sorry, for the error and for the "spam" I'm producing, but I
couldn't help from making it clear.
I should've said: "I didn't mean to distort your argument".
This d.... prehistoric user interface! ;-).
Pedro
-----Mensaje original-----
De: Pedro Pastor [mailto:]
Enviado el: mi廨coles, 03 de octubre de 2007 15:31
Para: 'DocBook Apps Mailing List'
Asunto: RE: [docbook-apps] oXygen 9 beta with WYSIWYG-like editing
supportforDocBook
Sorry Elliotte, I did mean to distort your argument. I did think that was
your idea but, obviously, I misunderstood you.
On the other hand, there are many kind of commands: those that perform a
direct action, those that need arguments, ... For those that produce a
direct action it seems clear to me that keying "CTRL+V" is much-much faster
than: raising the hand from your key board; grasping the mouse; moving the
pointer to the right place (without failing in case you are in a hurry. How
many nasty mistakes due to this cause, mainly on e-mails!! ;-), and
clicking.
I cannot address you to any scientific survey on the topic, but the
practical experience of some organizations. In addition to this, you could
ask about their preferences to EMACS or VI users (if you dare ;-).
Anyway, I think this is an off-topic and I do agree with you (I presume)
that having too many icons could be dazzling. A curiosity: Have you notice
how difficult is to find an icon (even if it's very common to you) if the
GUI layout changes from where you are used to find it?
Pedro
-----Mensaje original-----
De: Elliotte Harold [mailto:]
Enviado el: mi廨coles, 03 de octubre de 2007 13:33
Para: Pedro Pastor
CC: 'DocBook Apps Mailing List'
Asunto: Re: [docbook-apps] oXygen 9 beta with WYSIWYG-like editing
supportforDocBook
Pedro Pastor wrote:
> Hi,
>
> My previous message was sent in parallel with some other responses and I'd
> like to make two points to some of them.
>
> Making clear that my opinions come from my real live experiences:
>
> 1) I agree with Elliotte that "too many icons spoil the soup" ;-). It's
been
> proved that keying commands is faster (and more productive) than moving
the
> mouse, no matter if it's for selecting a menu option or clicking an icon.
>
I'm afraid I now have to disagree with you agreeing with me. :-)
I never said and certainly don't believe that keying commands is faster
(and more productive) than moving the mouse, no matter if it's for
selecting a menu option or clicking an icon. In fact, I believe very
much the opposite and would be curious to see the proof you believe
exists. On my side I would refer you to Tog On Interface, Addison-Wesley
Professional, 1992 as a good starting reference to the relevant research.
What I believe is that for most actions a *non-keyed* textual
description is more comprehensible than an iconic representation. For
instance, a button that says "Emphasize" is better than a button that ha
some stange little picture on it. However it is usually faster to click
the button with the mouse than to key in an emphasize command, and it is
definitely faster to select the Emphasize command from a properly
designed menu structure than to key it in or click the button.
There are two factors at work here:
1. It is faster to see and choose than remember and type.
2. Fitt's Law,
Actually #2 only applies on the Mac because other platforms put the menu
bar in the wrong place. But number 1 alone is enough to explain why
remember and type interfaces have gone the way of the Dodo (or at least
the Whooping Crane).
--
Elliotte Rusty Harold
Java I/O 2nd Edition Just Published!
http://www.cafeaulait.org/books/javaio2/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0596527500/ref=nosim/cafeaulaitA/
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