Re: For a GUI that is easier to use

[adam kramer <adam monkey org>]

 i agree with robert on designing the ui around tasks. I have just been
listening in so far, but I'd like to point everyone to a really helpful
shareware book on UI design, TASK-CENTERED USER INTERFACE DESIGN by
Clayton Lewis and John Rieman. You can download at:
ftp.cs.colorado.edu/pub/distribs/clewis/HCI-Design-Book/

-ak. 

 > To put it in simpler terms, I wish the GUI of a
> computer to be "task-oriented" instead of
> "program-oriented". A user-interface should presents
> to the users the "what's" (what the computer is
> capable of doing) instead of the "how's" (how to do
> such things). I envision that such a system will have
> the system menus (namely the "Start" menu in Windows,
> or the main menu in "Gnome") to be full of verbs
> instead of nouns. We can have a "Check" menu with
> "E-mail" and "Stock-quote" sub-menus, "Write" menu
> with "E-mail" and "Check" sub-menus, "Buy" menu with
> sub-menus with all the things you can buy. Also,
> imagine that installing software on a computer is
> really installing new capabilities of a computer
> (teaching the computer new tricks). I care more for
> what a computer can do and less for what software a
> computer has.