[plug] Good GUI Interface Design

[James Devenish]

In message <20031220061932.GD1152 at erdos.home>
on Sat, Dec 20, 2003 at 02:19:32PM +0800, Cameron Patrick wrote:
> On Sat, Dec 20, 2003 at 01:40:52PM +0800, Ben New wrote:
> | First I'd just like to say that saying "GUI interface" is like saying 
> | "ATM machine". That's just my pickiness for you ;-)
> 
> Not to mention PIN number :-)

Do you have a complaint against personal PIN numbers?
(See e-mail signature.)

> The GIMP is a good example of a hideous interface - it also
> plays badly with "non-traditional" window managers like ion and ratpoison that
> don't support overlapping windows except in a few special cases.)

When I use The GIMP 1.3, it doesn't seem to use as many windows as 1.2.

> Random thought from a mouse-avoider:  what about a zero-button mouse?
> Use the mouse for pointing only, and then you have 102 buttons on your
> keyboard that you can use do stuff with.

Random counter-thought: how would you know when a keystroke is
to cause a "mouse" action rather than a "text entry" action?

> now that I'm used to X11-style highlight to select/middle button to
> paste, I'd not give it up.

I almost always have to use the keyboard at the same time, so I'd
certainly be glad to give it up (to prevent my clipboard from being
overwritten by mousing accidents, for one thing).

> xfig also needs a middle mouse button.  (Actually there you have another
> case of an "innovative" interface...  In some ways its mouse button
> diagram

Having a diagram is cool (in this case). But I the three-button dance as
an *optional* input method, so that you *can* use it *if* you prefer it
over a keyboard-related method. Obviously, I tend to prefer keyboard-
related methods.

-- 
I might have forgotten to add these:
;-) :-) ;-P :-P