brownell@harvard.UUCP (Dave Brownell) (04/27/84)
Maybe this doesn't belong in cog-eng, but many of the discussions
here seem to be human-factors so here goes:
With Apple's MacIntosh on the mass market, mice and windows are
at the forefront of user interface design. However, there does
seem to be a consensus that mice are not always good -- in particular,
they slow down fast typists. Such typists would rather their hands
didn't move from the 'home row' (asdf jkl;)
My query: what other kinds of considerations are important for fast
typists? Clearly commands should be fast to type -- that's part of why
I like VI better than EMACS, the commands are (mnemonic) single
characters rather than (hairy) two and three letter sequences.
Are there any cognitive aspects to this, aside from using muscle
reflexes (making things mnemonic)?
I don't like the over-reliance on mice that I've seen in some circles ...
Dave Brownell
{decvax!genrad, allegra!wjh12, ihnp4!harvard} !sequoia!brownellmark@umcp-cs.UUCP (04/28/84)
There was a study a couple (3?) years ago by the Social Security
Administration regarding use of mice. They discovered that they
were good when the user kept his/her eyes on the screen. They
were bad when one's eyes had to move back and forth from paper
to screen or from person to screen, because the eye/hand coordination
required for mice use was lost. This study did not take into
account hand motion from keyboard to mouse and back, as I recall.
(I heard it presented at the Software Psychology Society, Washington
Chapter. It may also have been presented and/or published somewhere,
I don't know).
--
Spoken: Mark Weiser ARPA: mark@maryland
CSNet: mark@umcp-cs UUCP: {seismo,allegra}!umcp-cs!mark