Every once in awhile I do a "keyboard and mouse usage evaluation". I am
of the pointed opinion that the mouse wastes quite a lot of my day (going
back and forth from the keyboard) and the more I can stay on the keyboard
the better. So the evaluation I do, while not entirely related to being
in a web app, is to go back to using SEU to develop/compile/debug/etc my
RPG programs. I LOVE not having to go to the mouse. WDSC is the other
tool that I love, but it has "mouse issues". Meaning it doesn't keep me
efficient in a tool I am using constantly.
So how does this relate to web apps? Well, web apps come in a variety of
tastes. For some it is very necessary to have beauty over function
because you are more concerned about selling something to somebody every
few months than having them repeatedly come to the same page and use it
time and time again throughout the day. The flip side are applications
that I am in all day long (something like a SugarCRM or a ticket issuing
system) where I am not real concerned about the colors or images after the
first 9 months of use and instead I would much rather have it be fast and
keep me efficient (i.e. hands on the keyboard). The dilema is finding a
means to an end. Most all browser applications drive me nuts because I
can't quickly tab my way around the page. Anybody else feel the same way?
Anyways, I guess that was more of a rant than anything. But I wanted to
convey my thoughts that I believe match up to yours concerning SugarCRM.
But what can we do to rectify the matter? That is where technologies that
have a "thicker feel" can play more of a role I think (i.e. Flex,
Silverlight, JavaFX), though who knows if those will actually be the
bullet we choose to run with as I imagine there will be more next year.
Aaron Bartell
http://mowyourlawn.com
Nathan Andelin wrote:
From: Aaron Bartell
Obviously successful is a relative term, but I would define a new
UI technology a success if they could reach the same simplicity
and efficiency that we have with 5250 applications.
Well, if you want the same simplicity and efficiency as 5250, then you might as well use 5250 ... but I kind-of get your drift, which was underscored when I tried SugarCRM at the yip link that you referenced in an earlier post. SugarCRM is typical of Web applications, but I found it to be tedious to work with - not something I'd like to be subjected to on a daily basis.
From a user perspective, a browser UI can actually be more efficient than 5250 ... sometimes. Post a form submit using AJAX, where the only response returned from the server is a completion message - perhaps 60 bytes. Over a LAN, the response completes and the message is shown in about 2 milliseconds. Granted, that most Web applications are not designed that way, but it is possible.
Nathan.
midrange.com
