::scr Interface Evolution

[celia romaniuk]

On Wed, 31 Oct 2001, simon wistow wrote:

[quoting from http://www.piemenu.com/]
> " Fitts' Law explains the advantages of pie menus, relating their fast
> selection speed and low error rate to their large target size and
> small distance."

I first learnt about Fitts Law in one of Bruce Tognazzi's columns: 

http://www.asktog.com/columns/022DesignedToGiveFitts.html

(see Question Seven). 

> One thing I can't get used to in Macs (and various Linux desktops) is
> the lack of Windows style right click context menus (they're probably
> there but I don't know where - Doze is just what I'm used to. Macs
> have them bound to the Apple key?).

The control key. Also, if you use an Intellimouse (or similar) then the
mouse buttons work in the same way as on a PC> 

> I liek the idea that (left) clicking on a file or executable does
> something and right clicking lets me configure it and that this
> extends to stuff like right clicking on My Computer or Network
> Neighbourhood lets me configure those. Ok, so the paradigm isn't
> totally consistent (I have a very large document kicking round that
> lists a $large_number of interface problems) but it's a ncie idea.

Keeping things contextual is nice because the idea that's kept consistent
is that you're acting "on" the object (which is closer to
documentcentricity than using the preferences menu, for example).

> Since I have a passing liking for games (*cough*) I was looking at other
> control methods (in the course of work as well - writing games for Java is
> difficult enoguh since you don't know what keys/input device your player is
> going to have) 

Argh. Flashback! One of the difficulties we had early on in the
development of Pogo* was that they wanted the Pogo services and apps to be
able to run on any device. (We were building a device as well, but they
didn't want the hardware to be a core part of the business). It's a
difficult issue and, to be honest, I think we avoided the problem more
than we solved it.

* Pogo is  wireless device that combines PDA, phone and browser, or at
http://www.pogo-tech.com, or a frickin' mare of a project that kept Celia
in a basement for one whole summer while she worked on the interface for
the prototype version.

> and realised that a lot of games spend a lot of time on
> interface since and bad interface will interrupt the suspension of disbeliev
> or make playing the game harder than it should be.

For a long time now, I've thought that interfaces should aspire to be
invisible. It's a fairly popular idea, but I think it makes sense. It
comes back to the simple consideration of what people's goals are. And
most of the time, the interface is just what allows people to achieve that
goals (whether it's reading messages, playing games, whatever). Sorry if
that's really boring and tired, but the principle is that simple. 

The difficulty comes with implementation.

> Some articles featuring the Gesture Recognition System :
> http://www.gamespot.co.uk/stories/news/0,2160,2044582,00.html
> http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20010613/molyneux_01.htm 

I've been meaning to read about this for a while. Ta for the linkage.
 
-- 
celia
i dont do prooffreading