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Subject: Re: NEWKEYS v2

Re: NEWKEYS v2

From: Chris Hoekstra <chris_hoekstra_at_hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2003 12:39:30 -0500

Having had a course in User Interface design, I understand what Craig is
getting at. His main point is not in the specifics, but in the overall
concept. Consistancy, common sense focused and driven, and intuitive.
These really ARE the "very very very basic" concepts of UI design. I
have often grumbled at having hit << key on the recorder to get out of
menus and then faced with a dynamically updating screen that requires me
to hit the "OFF" key to get out instead. This is an example of
in-consistancy.

I don't think Craig really wanted to say his specific example of key
behavior was the right way and the only way. Only that a rethinking
should occur of those few areas that don't follow the general UI basics.

Now that my analysis and comments are done, I have my own 2 cents to
add. If one looks at a cell phone interface, there is always a "select"
and a "cancel" button. On the recorder this would work great (btw, why
the heck don't we use this now with the F1-3 keys??) yet on the player
we don't have this luxury.

Let's examine how mobo bios's do this. They generally use enter to
select, and esc to back out. All they do is check for a change in the
values.
If no change occurs, they exit with no change, effectively cancelling.
If a value was changed, they ask if you want to save the setting and
require 2 more keys. On a computer it is usually "Y" or "N" but on the
player it could be "-" and "+" or "ON" and "MENU" or even "PLAY" and
"STOP". The nice thing about using "PLAY" and "STOP" would be that if
you wanted to cancel, you could hit STOP and when it prompts discard
changes just hit STOP again and you have cancelled.

This type of thoughts, intuitiveness, etc is MY own idea of how it could
be implemented. I haven't spent a _ton_ of time thinking about it, but
it seems like it would be an intuitive method.

Oh, and Linus, I have to disagree with you when you say that general UI
rules/concepts don't apply here since those rules/concepts apply to
everything we interact with, not just computers. In my UI course, we
started with light switches and how they are arranged in a room, with
the direction cabinets and doors open, and even how a radio works. Just
because a device is simple (ie a light switch with on or off) doesn't
mean the rules don't apply.

Chris H.


Kjell Ericson wrote:

>Go back or cancel. Same shit for me. I'm a user too, and that IS how I see
>things. I don't see anything rediculous in that.
>
>I use my player less and less, so take charge and do whatever you want. But
>you make a misstake if you think you have the only common sense and the only
>right way to look on functions like menues, accept, back and so on.
>
> // Kjell
>
>
>
>
Received on 2003-08-28

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