Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!stanford.edu!neon.Stanford.EDU!torrie
From: torrie@cs.stanford.edu (Evan Torrie)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: De-macification of the Amiga (Re: The Amiga's Future)
Message-ID: <1991Jun24.045422.2173@neon.Stanford.EDU>
Date: 24 Jun 91 04:54:22 GMT
References: <1991Jun17.123525.1485@sugar.hackercorp.com><1991Jun18.165401.26383@ifi.unizh.ch> <1991Jun19.154113.28723@news.iastate.edu> <1991Jun19.224736.15828@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> <13824@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> <4618.tnews@templar.actrix.gen.nz> <13863@mentor.cc.purdu
Sender: torrie@neon.Stanford.EDU (Evan James Torrie)
Organization: Computer Science Department, Stanford University, Ca , USA
Lines: 39

jbickers@templar.actrix.gen.nz (John Bickers) writes:

>Quoted from <1991Jun23.044133.23463@neon.Stanford.EDU> by torrie@cs.stanford.edu (Evan Torrie):

>    This is probably a matter of opinion. 

  As is a lot of computer human interface stuff.  In most cases, the
democratic solution wins out : i.e. it's what the majority feels most
comfortable with that wins out in a design tradeoff, even though there
may be a sizeable dissenting group.

>I had a discussion a while back
>    with a guy who writes user interface stuff for touch screen
>    applications, and apparently a long standing divider in the company
>    he works for is the direction scrolling lists should move in
>    when the user presses a cursor key.

  This depends on whether you consider the piece of "paper" the list is on
to be fixed, and you're just moving a cut-out rectangle over the top of
it, or whether the cut-out rectangle is fixed, and you're moving the paper.
  Most computer GUIs have chosen the "cut-out rectangle approach".
Incidentally, the PenPoint OS does it the alternative way for its gesture
movement of scrolling.  You click on the screen with your pen, and pull
down to move the text "UP".  This really put me off the first few times
I used it, but it's something you get used to.  

>    These things are small and insignificant. Note that menus are not
>    generally a cluttered visual space, but a Workbench where the icons
>    are jammed closely enough together to be a problem is obviously
>    quite cluttered.

  Which is all the more reason to have visual feedback to tell you which
one of the jammed together icons your action will apply to.

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Evan Torrie.  Stanford University, Class of 199?       torrie@cs.stanford.edu   
"I didn't get where I am today without knowing a good deal when I see one,
 Reggie."  "Yes, C.J."