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From: dml@esl.UUCP (Denis Lynch)
Newsgroups: comp.cog-eng,comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: Re: OPEN LOOK
Message-ID: <762@esl.UUCP>
Date: 17 Sep 88 04:44:01 GMT
References: <21787@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> <4775@whuts.UUCP>
Reply-To: dml@esl.UUCP (Denis Lynch)
Organization: ESL, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA.
Lines: 49

In article <4775@whuts.UUCP> spf@whuts.UUCP (Steve Frysinger of Blue Feather Farm) writes:
>While having the "right" human
>interface be standard is a good idea (see a previous poster's
>extreme example of traffic lights), standardizing the "wrong"
>human interface is NOT a good idea.

The real point is that there is such a thing as "good enough." There
is, simply, no "right" user interface. There is a lot of commonality
among the good user interfaces that are out on the street now, and
almost all programs would benefit from taking the appropriate lessons
from what is already "common knowledge." That is the point of Open
Look: define a very good user interface that will certainly be
augmented over time. This will ensure that good toolkits (or, more
generally, development environments) become available so that even
simple applications can share this user interface.

If the biggest issue you have to worry about is the appearance of
scroll bars, you have much narrower vision than a good application
developer should. Worry about what your application "means" to users,
how it can be enhanced to better fit into more areas, how to make it
more robust, etc. Let somebody else worry about the little stuff.

>But (for example), a slider
>with only one adjustable parameter isn't "right" in my book, 

Which proves my point. Of *course* a slider should only have one
parameter. There are other "input devices" that can have more
(trackball- or joystick-like; color wheels, etc.) but sliders just
have one.

>nor is
>the requirement that horizontal scrollbars be on the bottom of a
>window.

But how about the Open Look definition, which makes it a user
preference where scroll bars should appear? I don't want your
application on my system if you decide that everybody else did this
wrong, and you are going to save the world. For the things that really
annoy people (like button assignments on 3-button mice for lefties,
and which side of the screen vertical scroll bars should be on), make
it user adjustable. In addition to being the right approach, this
happens to be the Open Look approach.

Use your creativity for something that will make a difference!

-- 
Denis Lynch                          
ESL Incorporated                         decwrl!borealis!\
ARPA: dml%esl.ESL.COM@ames.arc.nasa.gov    ucbcad!ucbvax!- ames!- esl!dml
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