Comments on: In the beginning were the words, and the words were "It sucks" http://karlagius.com/2008/12/17/in-the-beginning-were-the-words-and-the-words-were-it-sucks/ It's not rocket science Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:23:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Karl http://karlagius.com/2008/12/17/in-the-beginning-were-the-words-and-the-words-were-it-sucks/comment-page-1/#comment-1048 Karl Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:10:36 +0000 http://karlagius.wordpress.com/2008/12/17/in-the-beginning-were-the-words-and-the-words-were-it-sucks/#comment-1048 Thank you for your comments, Mark and Derrick. As it turned out, the man with the little stop sign worked fine, so there was no need to change it. I have since lost touch with the people using that plugin, but given there were no problems with this item in its early months, I doubt that they were raised further down the line. Regarding your suggestion on key combinations: I find a key press is much less of an interruption than a popup - bear in mind that you can hold the keys down, so it's not like you have to press and release for every click. Concerning the single key press; this would work in some instances, but if you go down that route you might want to avoid loading up too many meanings into one key press. A combination of two keys is enough to specify intent - I am unlikely to be holding down Ctrl-D by accident. I could have made "ALT" the general, context sensitive "action" key, but then you run the risk of accidental clicks in the wrong place. Then again, that depends on your application and audience. If the tasks you are dealing with are clearly defined, and single key press actions make it easier, then you <em>should</em> do them that way. If your users are not accustomed to using key combinations in applications, then you should not go that way. I also have to emphasize Marlon's comment, below, on legends. VERY important. In my case, few users noticed the tool-tip prompt, and none of them actually read the instructions given to them ;) Thank you for your comments, Mark and Derrick. As it turned out, the man with the little stop sign worked fine, so there was no need to change it. I have since lost touch with the people using that plugin, but given there were no problems with this item in its early months, I doubt that they were raised further down the line.

Regarding your suggestion on key combinations: I find a key press is much less of an interruption than a popup – bear in mind that you can hold the keys down, so it’s not like you have to press and release for every click. Concerning the single key press; this would work in some instances, but if you go down that route you might want to avoid loading up too many meanings into one key press. A combination of two keys is enough to specify intent – I am unlikely to be holding down Ctrl-D by accident. I could have made “ALT” the general, context sensitive “action” key, but then you run the risk of accidental clicks in the wrong place. Then again, that depends on your application and audience. If the tasks you are dealing with are clearly defined, and single key press actions make it easier, then you should do them that way. If your users are not accustomed to using key combinations in applications, then you should not go that way.

I also have to emphasize Marlon’s comment, below, on legends. VERY important. In my case, few users noticed the tool-tip prompt, and none of them actually read the instructions given to them ;)

]]> By: Derrick http://karlagius.com/2008/12/17/in-the-beginning-were-the-words-and-the-words-were-it-sucks/comment-page-1/#comment-1047 Derrick Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:36:17 +0000 http://karlagius.wordpress.com/2008/12/17/in-the-beginning-were-the-words-and-the-words-were-it-sucks/#comment-1047 Have the man with the "X" on him instead of the stop sign. That says delete user to me. Maybe pressing "CTRL+D" is only slightly lighter then the damn confirm screen... why not just press one key? Would "ALT" work? Have the man with the “X” on him instead of the stop sign. That says delete user to me. Maybe pressing “CTRL+D” is only slightly lighter then the damn confirm screen… why not just press one key? Would “ALT” work?

]]> By: Mark D http://karlagius.com/2008/12/17/in-the-beginning-were-the-words-and-the-words-were-it-sucks/comment-page-1/#comment-1045 Mark D Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:51:08 +0000 http://karlagius.wordpress.com/2008/12/17/in-the-beginning-were-the-words-and-the-words-were-it-sucks/#comment-1045 Re: 2. Unless the button was clicked accidentally, in which case, your user interface design sucks. So very very true! Re: 2. Unless the button was clicked accidentally, in which case, your user interface design sucks.

So very very true!

]]> By: karlagius http://karlagius.com/2008/12/17/in-the-beginning-were-the-words-and-the-words-were-it-sucks/comment-page-1/#comment-50 karlagius Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:01:35 +0000 http://karlagius.wordpress.com/2008/12/17/in-the-beginning-were-the-words-and-the-words-were-it-sucks/#comment-50 It's there as a tooltip, but yes, I suspect a permanent legend makes more sense. Thanks :) It’s there as a tooltip, but yes, I suspect a permanent legend makes more sense. Thanks :)

]]> By: marlongrech http://karlagius.com/2008/12/17/in-the-beginning-were-the-words-and-the-words-were-it-sucks/comment-page-1/#comment-49 marlongrech Wed, 17 Dec 2008 10:59:33 +0000 http://karlagius.wordpress.com/2008/12/17/in-the-beginning-were-the-words-and-the-words-were-it-sucks/#comment-49 cool idea I love it! 1 note, you should do a legend to say that the user should press the CTRL+D to enable the delete. Well i guess you already thought of that... I really love the idea 10 points to Karl :D cool idea I love it!
1 note, you should do a legend to say that the user should press the CTRL+D to enable the delete. Well i guess you already thought of that…

I really love the idea 10 points to Karl :D

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