Re: GUI vs: CLI (was: Shell command in VB6)

From: Programmer Dude (Chris_at_Sonnack.com)
Date: 04/12/04 

Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 14:07:58 -0500

Willem wrote:

>> Maybe I'm not clear on your exact meaning, though.
>
> Suppose you have a maximized app. The close button is in the upper
> right corner, IIRC. If you move the mouse up and right until the
> pointer doesn't move any further, and then click the mouse, do you
> hit the close button ?

Yes. Just tried it. 10 for 10.

> Or on any windows box: If you move down and left all the way,
> do you hit the 'start' button ?

No. (Also 10 for 10. :-)

> Do you hit the different app buttons on the taskbar
> when your pointer is right up against the lower edge
> of the screen ?

Also no.

However, the "yes" is the one that surprised me. In all cases,
there is "real estate" between the button and the edge, so I've
never expected a click to work with the pointer slammed against
the edge.

>>> Will those buttons be clickable with the mouse pointer right up
>>> against the edge?
>>
>> Absolutely.
>
> Then my memory was playing tricks on me, because I recall that
> there are one or more pixels between the button edge and the
> screen edge in MS Windows. My bad.

Well, that's just it, though. The buttons are NOT at the edge.
If they were, they'd work fine.

Personal preference, surely, but I'd dislike the look of buttons
squarely against the edge. I prefer the offset, and I don't
have any problems with that at all. I never slam the pointer as
a technique unless I've lost it and am trying to find it.

Different work styles and different visual preferences, yeah?

>>> (One example: What idiot decided it would be a good idea to put
>>> the close button right next to the maximize button ?
>>
>> I remember accidentally closing a lot of apps before I learned.
>> Hasn't happened in a long, long time, though.
>
> That's because you learned to be careful when aiming for the
> buttons near the close button. Careful = slower. So even for
> you it's bad UI design.

It no longer strikes me that way, though. (Also, I'm not sure it's
a bad thing having a speed bump for closing an app, since I tend
to turn of "Are you sure" prompts.)

Plus there are a number of other ways to close an app,... so... all
I can say is it's way below my radar.

Maybe it's a learning curve issue. Some folks just climb the curve
and put it behind them. Others find it so unpalatable they resist
climbing it and thus it looms forever in front of them.

> And we were talking about 'typical' users, whom we can expect to
> hit the wrong button once in a while, right ?

I'd bet a good fraction of them don't even know what those buttons
do (I know I've showed a few). And remember that these typical
users tend to move a lot slower and less confidently than you or
I do. I'd bet there's no slow down for them.

But I'll make a mental note to ask the next few typical users I
run into.

>> I donno about Amiga, but on earlier Macs I used it was. Looking
>> back on it, having now used the Windows style, I vastly prefer
>> having menu clicks closer to where I'm operating.
>
> Why ? Because they are faster to reach ?

More to do with wrist movement than speed. 

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