Xref: utzoo comp.misc:7740 comp.cog-eng:1501 Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!ssbell!mcmi!dsndata!wayne From: wayne@dsndata.uucp (Wayne Schlitt) Newsgroups: comp.misc,comp.cog-eng Subject: Re: Multi-button mice (Re: Xerox sues Apple!) Message-ID: Date: 19 Dec 89 13:58:17 GMT References: <172@comcon.UUCP> <7326@ficc.uu.net> <9320@hoptoad.uucp> <1989Dec18.081450.28019@psuvax1.cs.psu.edu> Sender: wayne@dsndata.UUCP Organization: Design Data Lines: 47 In-reply-to: mwm@raven.pa.dec.com's message of 18 Dec 89 19:52:16 GMT Tim Maroney wrote: > I have *never* seen a non-techno-jock user who could keep the mouse > buttons straight. Multi-button mice are brain-damaged. our software package doesnt use a windowing environment, this includes not using dialog boxes, pull down/pop up menu's etc. basically, we use our mouse (actually a digitizing tablet) to locate graphics on the screen, select menu options and answer simple questions. if you think three buttons is a lot, get this: we use a four button mouse. and from seeing _complete_ computer novices use our software, i would say it works quite well. a few things help to make it simple. the meanings of the buttons are as consistent as possible and the current actions are always display on the top of the screen in a "command diamond". the top button always means yes, select, continue, and such. the bottom means no, return, abort and such. the left and right buttons are not used anywhere near as much, but they are fairly consistent. if there are more than four options at a given point, we put a menu up on the screen and people use the mouse to locate the option and then press "select (the top button)". if there are four or fewer options, we try to put the options on the buttons. very few things require the use of the keyboard, and a lot of the keyboard usage requires just the keypad. people that we train find the four button mouse _less_ intimidating than the keyboard (there are just too many buttons on the keyboard...). for experienced people, the four button mouse allows them to be almost "touch typist". they know what the buttons do and can fly through the program as fast as i can fly through emacs. we try to pay close attention to what is the quickest/simplest way to do things. moving the mouse takes time, so does pushing a lot of buttons or trying to find letters on the keyboard. switching from the keyboard to the mouse takes a lot of time. basically, i think that a well designed user interface can use a multi-button mouse quite effectively. it _can_ be made easy to use, easy to learn _and_ quick for the experienced user. it just takes a little bit of effort and experience when you create the user interface. -wayne