|
Doug,
I think it is more a matter of the task being performed. I'm not suggestingI agree that a mouse is more useful for some tasks. I disagree that business tasks tend to be text oriented. If you are maintaining a customer record, you will be entering dates, or choosing from a list of credit levels, or typing a zipcode and having the webservice collect the city and state. If you are working with an application that is a workflow, the use of graphics and icons, etc and the use of rich GUI tools can enhance the process.somebody use the mouse for Paint or CAD operations. But if we are talking about line of business applications which would otherwise be green screen, they tend to be text oriented.
For sure, if you are still performing green screen data entry and wish to remain in the last century, then you should use a keyboard. This is definitely the last vestiges of the mouse VERSUS keyboard debate. Beyond that, mouse AND keyboard should both be used to improve the user experience. My contention is that human data entry functions should be automated with modern technology, and then the mouse vs keyboard debate is dead.
Hahaha. This is really ironic, too. The QWERTY keyboard is designed to slow you down. DVORAK was an attempt at speeding it back up again. Since we have new ways of input - mouse, voice, finger, etc, DVORAK is dead. Seems like if DVORAK didn't work, the keyboard is considered by the industry as an outdated model anyway!! :-)If you have any alphameric text entry to do at all, you really need to keep both hands in home typing position to get any decent text entry speed. Unless you have users skilled in one of the one-handed Dvorak keyboard layouts. :)
I made that joke last night at the Phoenix user group. I said you should try Solitaire, but I have just moved to Minesweeper. I like your thinking!While Solitaire is good for a very beginning mouse user, Minesweeper does more for accuracy and speed training.
The interesting part is that I ~am~ a keyboard person, and right now I am using it. However, I am also a mac owner, and have been forced into doing more and more with a mouse. I sometimes feel crippled and slow if I cannot use the keyboard shortcuts that I have in Windows. While I am getting better at the mac mouse experience, there are times when I am frustrated by the lack of keyboard shortcuts.If you don't happen to BE a keyboard person, maybe you need to play more "Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing" :)
Regardless of that, I find that most users use the mouse incorrectly - along the lines of what Kendall said. If you have ever watched over the shoulder of someone driving a PC, then you know your brain works hard to not impose your particular approach on them. A good example is someone typing, then taking their hand off the keyboard and grabbing the mouse, only to press the OK button. All along, my brain is screaming "PRESS THE ENTER KEY TO ACTIVATE THE OK BUTTON". In which case, the entire process would be faster. However, I am not the driver of their brain, and if they need to click the OK button, they will. The advantage is that an OK button is a consistent interface to all GUI applications, so I did not have to train them for this process. In the end, teaching them to press the Enter key is a hit and miss thing - mostly miss, in my experience. The user is going to use the interface that is the easiest to use, and in todays' world, that happens to be a single click - regardless of the additional mechanics involved and regardless of the time wasted.
Trevor
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
This mailing list archive is Copyright 1997-2024 by midrange.com and David Gibbs as a compilation work. Use of the archive is restricted to research of a business or technical nature. Any other uses are prohibited. Full details are available on our policy page. If you have questions about this, please contact [javascript protected email address].
Operating expenses for this site are earned using the Amazon Associate program and Google Adsense.
midrange.com
