Ionrock Dot Org

On the usability list there was a thread talking about shortcut keys and how they are displayed to the user. I was not following the discussion too closely. Well, one person mentioned that using the keyboard was actually slower and when folks disagreed, a link to an article by Tog came up. This sort of thing being of interest to me I took a look. I found I had read the article before but this time it got me thinking. Am I really faster by using Emacs with all its C-this and M-x some-command-that? One thing that makes me feel validated to contradict Tog is the fact the article was published in 1989. I don't know about everyone else, but I know I was not much for touch typing back then. In fact, I would think many schools still had a typing class... on a type writer!

My point here is that maybe it is time to revisit whether or not this studied result has changed. So often HCI people claim that user experience is very important in a users perception of how usable a piece of software or interface is. I think with the revolution known as the Internet, it begs the question of whether or not we can conclude that a critical mass of people have had enough experiences to change the previous "mouse is faster" mantra. I am not saying that this applies to all cases. When you talk about this sort of thing, most people when exploring an interface will and should use a mouse, while learning a few keyboard shortcuts can definitly be helpful. In other words, this issue is not either/or.

But, it does sound like a fun exercise! So, I will go away from my beloved Emacs for a week and see how it goes. I am thinking about trying Gedit for a while, since those guys are really nice ;) If anyone else wants to do the same, please email me at elarson (at) novell.com and let me know how things go. I will plan on blogging my experiences every now and then as well. Wish me luck ;)