Re: Info sucks?
On Thu, Sep 17, 1998 at 01:27:01AM -0500, Manoj Srivastava wrote:
> Hi,
> >>"Tim" == Tim Bell <bhat@cs.mu.OZ.AU> writes:
>
> Tim> Quoting john@dhh.gt.org (john@dhh.gt.org):
> >> Anyone who calls *any* UI intuitive needs to have his head seriously
> >> examined.
>
> Tim> Stepping out of the computer world for a moment, *some* doorknobs have
> Tim> intuitive UIs. (And far too many do not.)
>
> Tell that to the peole of the village my grandparents come
> from. There are no doors. There are mud+straw walls and roofs, and a
> curtain hung over the opening. What doors there are, (like the post
> office) have handles. Nary a door knob in sight.
>
> Now tell these people that you have to *twist* the suckers --
> not hit them, not push, or pull -- and heaven help you trying to
> explain why, and how, to lock and unlock them too.
>
> Too much cultural bias, my friend.
Thats very true... I supose that makes the argument that almost NOTHING we
do in our everyday lives is "intuitive" in and of itself.
It reminds me of Apple's "Human Interface Guidelines" (I have that book
somewhere) it makes some very interesting points, which many people would
miss.
The one which I actually emember was to rememer cultural differences. They
gave the example that in americain/european tradition we think of the Owl as
a symbol of Wisdom, but in many cultures it is seen as a symbol of Black
Magic...
of course Black Magic does have its place in many programs (though as I have
heard in recent versions of the kernel my favorite line "This code is evil
magic" has dissapeared) :)
-Steve
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