"Conforming" UI (was:REALbasic vs. Revolution)

[Kurt Kaufman]

Ray Bennett wrote:
"Kurt - can you give us an idea of what sort of users you had?  Were 
they
random public folks or folks from a specific walk of life (such as
engineers, math teachers, lawyers, accountants)?  Just curious because
we're in the middle of several UI considerations for a cross-platform
app that will be going to a somewhat random "suzy/joe public"

One application is used to create MIDI files, obviously of interest 
primarily to musicians.  All necessary functions were accessed by way 
of buttons or "pull-down" buttons located within the window.  One 
person commented on lack of obvious "Quit" menu item (in Mac OS X, 
ironically, where such a function is "built-in" to the 
application-named menu).

Another application is used to view video clips in succession 
(typically the output of digital cameras in video mode), and for this I 
received much positive feedback, especially from Windows users.  Again, 
no "Quit" menu item, and all functions accessed via buttons. I would 
suppose that this application has been downloaded by a more "general" 
public than the MIDI application. -No mention from anyone of lack of 
menus.

Please note that I am not condoning the creation of applications 
without menus. In the past I have tried to place the appropriate menu 
items in the appropriate places to stay in line with typical user 
expectations.  I am merely suggesting that strict adherence to 
"official" UI guidelines may not be as important as we might think- as 
long as the program is not too complicated or difficult to use in the 
first place.

KK