Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!nrl-cmf!umix!paul From: paul@umix.cc.umich.edu ('da Kingfish) Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards Subject: Re: Request for human interface design anecdotes Message-ID: <2975@umix.cc.umich.edu> Date: Mon, 30-Nov-87 23:39:02 EST Article-I.D.: umix.2975 Posted: Mon Nov 30 23:39:02 1987 Date-Received: Thu, 3-Dec-87 23:47:03 EST References: <1721@spar.SPAR.SLB.COM> <1621@megatest.UUCP> Reply-To: paul@umix.cc.umich.edu ('da Kingfish) Organization: University of Michigan Computing Center, Ann Arbor Lines: 28 UUCP-Path: {uunet,rutgers}!umix!paul In article <7994@steinmetz.steinmetz.UUCP> dawn!stpeters@steinmetz.UUCP (Dick St.Peters) writes: >As [Ed] Gould argues, there should be an evolutionary path from novice >interface to expert interface. However, the overall interface should >*encourage* the novice to take that path, not just passively allow the >possibility. >-- Yes, I think the key idea here is the *overall* interface. For example, three people were working on a software project under my direction. One rm-ed an entire directory of source, and stammered something about rm star, spaces, backslashes, and something else. He was sweating profusely, and had something to say about the inappropriate user interface that /bin/csh had, etc. Well, this has probably happened to some of you, and it's always "well, we lost a day's worth of work, but we had really good backups, etc." Well, we hadn't done backups in about two months. So, I fired him. The other two saw the "big picture (or what I believe dawn!stpeters refers to as "the overall interface") and got right on that evolutionary path! --paul -- Trying everything that whiskey cures in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Over one billion messages read.