4 ms·
"UIs that are pretty and friendly are nice to have, but the true values of a good interface should be speed and efficiency to make their users as productive as
by fhood 8y ago
"UIs that are pretty and friendly are nice to have, but the true values of a good interface should be speed and efficiency to make their users as productive as possible."
Nonononononono! Both. I want both. The biggest problem with terminal interfaces is that very little of the functionality is obvious from the outset.
- amiga-workbench 8y agoEase of use and utility/efficiency seem to exist on the opposite ends of a continuum. The more common "easy to use" software is designed to be up-front and intuitive but because of its nature it is hobbled from a maximum utility/efficiency standpoint. The interface usually relies on interaction modes that are severely limited in bandwidth (poking things with a pointer). And the stuff on the other end is designed to be as useful and efficient as possible, but because of this its functions aren't immediately obvious and it requires the user to actually read the manual instead of fumbling their way around the interface. Once you actually put the time and effort in and learn the program you will be working far faster with this than the friendlier software. There is one piece of software that comes to mind which seems to exist in a happy medium, the nano text editor can be extremely powerful once you learn the hotkeys but it meets you half way and gives you a heads up of all the main functions without you asking.