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Do you have to be looking at it? My keyboard has blank keys. I used to use vim, which had a modal input scheme. My music keyboard has modes where different k

by taeric 2y ago

Do you have to be looking at it? My keyboard has blank keys. I used to use vim, which had a modal input scheme. My music keyboard has modes where different keys play different instruments. I agree that having the legends are good for affordances when learning. But they oddly hurt training. Specifically, they make it harder to remove the visual from the feedback loop. When training typing a long time ago, you wouldn't even look at the screen til you typed it all.

Analemma_ 2y ago
That's exactly the opposite scenario though: the reason you can get away with having blank keys on a keyboard or a modal input in vim is that the inputs never change, you can commit them to muscle memory and then never consciously think about it. That all gets blown away if the interface is dynamic.
- taeric 2y ago
  But they do change? Depending on the mode of my editor, they do different things. There is some stability, but not absolute. Similarly, if I play a game using me keyboard, which keys control my character will be in contrast to what is displayed on the keyboard. Now, constant change would be bad. But I'm assuming that isn't what is being proposed?
  - TeMPOraL 2y ago
    It is, in the sense that, if there's a way to display a dynamic label on individual keys, some UI/UX designers will make use of that to create interfaces that can't be learned, as they change depending on tasks, environments, and from version to version. Consider that touchscreen is very much this, and ever since phones got them, you can no longer do anything without looking at the screen. Interfaces are not stable enough to learn (and not reliable enough to operate without looking).
    - taeric 2y ago
      Yeah, on that I will agree it would be a terrible idea. The stream deck should be a good example, though; In that I'm assuming that most people do not have those buttons change much? Amusingly, I'm now remembering the very old video game system where the different games had cards you slid into the controller to indicate what the different buttons did. Seems like that is the general ideal.
regularfry 2y ago
The whole point of the Maximus is that it had little displays on each keycap.

by taeric 2y ago

Analemma_ 2y ago

That's exactly the opposite scenario though: the reason you can get away with having blank keys on a keyboard or a modal input in vim is that the inputs never change, you can commit them to muscle memory and then never consciously think about it. That all gets blown away if the interface is dynamic.

taeric 2y ago
But they do change? Depending on the mode of my editor, they do different things. There is some stability, but not absolute. Similarly, if I play a game using me keyboard, which keys control my character will be in contrast to what is displayed on the keyboard. Now, constant change would be bad. But I'm assuming that isn't what is being proposed?
- TeMPOraL 2y ago
  It is, in the sense that, if there's a way to display a dynamic label on individual keys, some UI/UX designers will make use of that to create interfaces that can't be learned, as they change depending on tasks, environments, and from version to version. Consider that touchscreen is very much this, and ever since phones got them, you can no longer do anything without looking at the screen. Interfaces are not stable enough to learn (and not reliable enough to operate without looking).
  - taeric 2y ago
    Yeah, on that I will agree it would be a terrible idea. The stream deck should be a good example, though; In that I'm assuming that most people do not have those buttons change much? Amusingly, I'm now remembering the very old video game system where the different games had cards you slid into the controller to indicate what the different buttons did. Seems like that is the general ideal.

regularfry 2y ago

The whole point of the Maximus is that it had little displays on each keycap.