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Subject:Re: Right-clicking and usability From:Mike Stockman <mstockman -at- mac -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Sat, 8 Mar 2003 13:50:30 -0500
You should document all non-obvious ways to perform an action. Keyboard
shortcuts are usually listed alongside the command on the menus (true in
the Mac, Windows, KDE, Gnome, and other GUI worlds I can remember at the
moment), so no documentation is needed -- the user can follow your
instructions for finding the menu command, and will see the standard
keyboard shortcuts as well. Novices may still miss them, but power users
won't, and they're the ones who use keyboard shortcuts.
On the other hand, right-click (or context-sensitive) menus are hidden.
Even a power user may not find them. In a good UI, right-click menus are
never the only way to do an action; instead, they are quicker ways to
select commands that are more obviously available elsewhere (such as the
main menu bar). For that reason, I would document the standard way to
choose a command, then mention the quicker way.
Hope this helps,
Mike
On 03/07/2003 10:57 AM, Alyssa Fox (Alyssa -dot- Fox -at- NetIQ -dot- com) wrote:
>
>I have a feeling that the number of people who don't use a mouse are in the
>minority, but are still an existing group. Therefore, offering right-click
>steps only in the docs is not too user-friendly for them. On the other hand,
>should I write to the minority, or the majority (which seems to me to most
>likely be those that use a mouse)? Or should I document all the ways to
>perform an action - using the menus, the right-click menus, and the keyboard
>shortcuts?
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