[Lazarus] Redundant text on project buttons

Jürgen Hestermann juergen.hestermann at gmx.de
Sat Oct 18 12:39:42 CEST 2014


Am 2014-10-17 um 19:46 schrieb Paulo Costa:
> On 17/10/2014 11:51, Michael Van Canneyt wrote:
>
>> I prefer the icons. I know exactly where they are. So that is better and
>> faster for me.
>
> Yes. A well placed icon in a stable position can be a time saver.
>
> As for those who claim to be faster with the keyboard, be cautious and read this funny thing:
> http://www.asktog.com/TOI/toi06KeyboardVMouse1.html

This discussion was not about mouse vs. keyboard but text vs. icons.
You can select text with the mouse too (i.e. from a sorted list).
I don't see any advantage of icons over text.
I don't see the need to invest valuable working time into icon design
if the same can be achieved with text (which also has the advantage of
beeing sortable and filterable).

And regarding mouse vs. keyboard:

As mentioned many times it depends on many facts
whether you are faster (or maybe just more familiar) with
one or the other. The mouse is a visual tool while keyboard is
a mental tool.

If you know nothing the mouse could be
easier in the first place (although I saw people at their first
computer contact moving the mouse to the edge of the desk
and not knowing how to proceed because they could not
move further as the desk end was reached. So you
need a little knowledge with the mouse too).

Also, if you type text (so you are on the keyboard anyway)
it is much easier to just type a shortcut than reaching for the
mouse to search for and click on an icon or button.

The next step of dummying down the user interface is using
touch screens. But try to browse through a collection of
hundreds of pictures with

A) Touch screen gestures
B) Mouse moving a slider
C) Keyboard keys

I would always prefer C) because it is the less strenuous
and allows the most variation (cursor up/down, page up/down,
Ctrl+Cursor up/down, etc.).
You will soon get a tennis elbow when trying A).






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