Re: GUI necessary?

[PaulMmn <PaulMmn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>Many users are confused by the GUI interface, or are mouse
>constrained. There are just some people who just don't get it.

Around here we have quite a few people who have never quite understood The
Mouse.  They'll fire up a flock of AS/400 Green Screen sessions, then park
the mouse more than an arms' length across the desk.  And reach for the
mouse to change sessions.  And reach.  And reach.  And reach.  etc. etc.

Of course, given that the Green Screen sessions don't -need- the mouse, and
they don't do anything else....

We've just had a Client/Server application written for us.  Response time
was not bad, but once we got a flock of people using it, response time
dropped to about 7 seconds.   Now, during this 7 seconds the PC was
querying the AS/400, scanning through several thousand records, comparing
and analyzing data, to come up with probable ship dates.

And the same process, driven by hand by the user, would have taken a whole
lot more than the 7 seconds.

But the perception was that the new application was -slow-.  And the users
screamed their complaints (in chorus).

It's the perceptions that kill ya!


--Paul E Musselman
PaulMmn@ix.netcom.com


PS-- we gave the communication subsystem a whole lot more memory to play
in, and the response time is now sub-second.


+---
| This is the Midrange System Mailing List!
| To submit a new message, send your mail to MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com.
| To subscribe to this list send email to MIDRANGE-L-SUB@midrange.com.
| To unsubscribe from this list send email to MIDRANGE-L-UNSUB@midrange.com.
| Questions should be directed to the list owner/operator: david@midrange.com
+---