Re: Template system

[Jens Bech Madsen <jbm oncable dk>]

On Wed, 2003-12-17 at 23:34, Manuel Amador (Rudd-O) wrote:
> > On Wed, 2003-12-17 at 16:16, Manuel Amador (Rudd-O) wrote:
> > 
> > In my mind, a person thinks "I need to write a letter" so they open
> the
> > "letter-writing app" and write a letter, then they think "I need to
> save
> > this for later" so they save it (picking a location in the process).
> 
> Yes.  This is a learned model, one that hinders usability.  Ideally, the
> user should want to "write a letter", then think "let's make a letter
> out of a template for letters". 
> 
> I completely agree with you that 95% of users think of a "letter-writing
> app".  The templates thing is exactly what the doctor ordered for this
> wrong, learned with Windows 3.1, mentality.

I will write a letter, therefore I will start out by locating my
letter-creation tool, ie. my pencil. 

I need to bash in this nail, therefore I will locate my nail-bashing
tool, ie. my hammer.

I don't understand why tools are regarded which such disdain as compared
to the concept of the process itself. Without the tool, there is no
process. It's not like products appear from thin air.



> >  The
> > document-centric way seems the reverse of this, i.e. "Let me find a
> > location in which I will create a file, which will contain a letter
> > which I will write."
> > 
> > Like I say, I'm not doubting anyone, but this seems counter-intuitive
> to
> > me, and apparently, as you say, hasn't been the way that people
> actually
> > do things even though that option is available to them. So maybe it
> just
> > hasn't been implemented properly in the past, I don't know. I'm just a
> > curious lurker, so if anyone has a study that can enlighten me, I
> would
> > be very interested.
> 
> No studies =(  that I know of.  Supposedly back in '94, Microsoft
> invested millions and determined this was the way to go, hence the
> New... menu and the Templates directory, while hiding the applications
> on a Start submenu.

Maybe this is why I find Windows in general so frustrating to work with?