Re: [Gimp-developer] Search Action dialog feature

[peter sikking <peter mmiworks net>]

On Jan 14, 2014, at 22:43, Chris Mohler wrote:

> On Tue, Jan 14, 2014 at 12:52 PM, peter sikking <peter mmiworks net> wrote:
> > - even if TITo response time is instant, keyword formulation ->
> >  typing in a text based interface is not exactly fast;
> >  please drop the ‘its fast’ argument;
>
> And yet the desktop menu in Mint/Cinnamon does precisely this and it
> *is* fast.  I type "Win-key,c,h,r,Enter" and have Chromium running.
> Easy.  Faster than the menu navigation.  I go without clicking an item
> in the system menu for weeks at a time, on a desktop I use daily.

let me give an example of what I mean in a GIMP context (because
that is the only thing that counts).

if a particular user uses Layer->New from Visible regularly,
then invoking it with a mouse from the menu will be nigh impossible
to beat with TITo, even if TITo manages to have a unique 2 char
code for it in the given localisation (fat chance). the time loss is
already there before the / shortcut is hit because it takes mental time
and effort for users to get to the point of hitting that key
(and you and I and all other users do not record that time loss,
because we are so busy figuring out the shortcut; this means none
of us is a reliable witness where it comes to how fast this stuff is)

> Nor do I see adding a text-driven action/menu system as any sort of UI
> failure. or being in the least bit "misguided".  What's inherently
> evil about adding shortcuts to get things done?

now that you ask: I would be misguiding one million users by saying
on the record: here is a way to use GIMP, for intense use.

> And if some labels aren't clear in TITo, might they need to be looked
> at anyway - maybe they really are ambiguous or could be worded better?
> The couple mentioned in the BZ report seemed a little funky.


I am happy to change a menu label for any good reason
(that is helping users), but never to help TITo out
(which is helping a mechanical robot).


    --ps

        founder + principal interaction architect
            man + machine interface works

        http://blog.mmiworks.net: on interaction architecture