Re: Two questions
Re: Two questions
- Subject: Re: Two questions
- From: "David W. Halliday" <email@hidden>
- Date: Mon, 28 May 2001 14:19:41 -0500
- Organization: Latin AmeriCom, formerly Latino Online
Bill Cheeseman wrote:
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I suppose it9s a matter of what one is used to, but in order to get used to
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anything it has to be consistent across all environments.
Or, at least, consistent across the board on a given system (Mac OS X, in
this case). Of course, this may have been what you meant by "across all
environments" (within the Mac OS X system), as opposed to arguing for consistency
with all environments users may come in contact with (such as Windows, XWindows,
etc.).
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Where I9m coming from is that Mac OS X seems to be moving somewhat away from
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overly 3safe2 or paternalistic behavior, towards more productive or
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efficient behavior. For myself, I would rather be forced to pay closer
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attention and be able to work faster, rather than the other way around. I
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prefer one click to two, where possible.
I quite agree that I prefer to get away from the nanny-state that the Mac has
tended to become. However, I can also see utility in having the nanny for the
novice, while having the option to cut the cords as users' proficiency and
contort level evolves.
I realize that to many who profess "special" human interface understanding
claim that there should be no user interface options. That such simply are
crutches to make up for lack of research to determine the one-true user
interface. However, I have found that there are many cases where there is no
one-true user interface, because there is no one-true user!
Users are individuals, they have their own distinct backgrounds and skill
levels. Yes, sometimes the user needs to be taught and trained in a better UI,
if possible (since we all, being human, have our own set of misconceptions and
prejudices that can get in the way of us recognizing that something different can
actually be something better---sometimes we have to unlearn bad habits,
misconceptions, and prejudices). On the other hand, accommodation must also be
made for the fact that a use's proficiencies evolve over time.
Fortunately, since the Mac now has the ability to have user specific
preferences, so not all users sharing the same machine must also share the same
interface, we should be freer to allow the users to modify the way things work
for their own advantage (especially in the case of accommodating users with
special needs).
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Bill Cheeseman - email@hidden
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Just my attempt at contributing here.
David email@hidden