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Subject: 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  elharo@metalab.unc.edu
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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