The Transcendental GUI (was a thread from REALbasic vs. Revolution)

[miscdas at boxfrog.com]

Rob Cozens writes: 

> 
>> So no keyboard driven options?  I am a touch typist, and have little love for the mouse. I find it particularly annoying that much of the Web 
>> REQUIRES mouse actions.
> 
> Yes, we have no keyboard driven options.  OenoLog is designed so that the 
> user need never switch between the keyboard and mouse when processing a 
> transaction.

Well, if the entire app is heavily mouse-centric, then that's a different 
situation. 

 

> The majority of transaction input (as opposed to setup input) is 
> determined by selecting individual items (ie: wine lot, grape type, 
> source/destination barrel or tank, inventory supply, etc.) from various 
> lists.  I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I think you will 
> agree that selecting an item from a displayed list is more easily 
> accomplished with a mouse than a keyboard.

I think you would agreee that the choice of which technique is easier is 
determined by the typing skills of the user and by whether one's hands are 
already on the keyboard or already on the mouse. 


> There is one issue that I bet annoys you touch typists as much as us hunt 
> & peckers: input screens that go from a keyboard-entered field to a 
> mouse-action field back to a keyboard-entered field back to a mouse-action field, etc
 

A resounding YES!  And really, there is no good reason for it, but I'm sure 
there are a million excuses for why it was designed that way. 

It's great that you've taken the time to really think about the UI and how 
it impacts the user's experience. 

miscdas