Aucb.151
fa.editor-p
utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!C70:editor-p
Wed Dec 9 12:13:38 1981
Customizing editor interfaces -- dare we give such power?
>From decvax!watmath!idallen@Berkeley Wed Dec 9 12:11:23 1981
I probably shouldn't get involved in this wonderful discussion before I
finish my exams, but I find I can't resist...
I feel Ken Laws' summary concerning the need for different types of
editors is well put (Dec 4); let us not confuse sophisticated users
with "ordinary" users. It is not helpful for an "ordinary" user to
know that s/he can express some editing function in a mere average 2.5
keystrokes, if in fact the user cannot remember what the keystrokes
are! I would dearly love to spend some time to gather data on this
point, but failing that must express this as a "feels-right"
conclusion. The cross-product approach is possibly a loser for
sophisticated users -- it takes too many key-strokes to do simple
things. But for "ordinary" users, it may save innumerable frustrating
trips to the manuals (or local gurus).
There exist editors which allow one to customize the interfaces to a
large extent. It seems to have gone without comment that this is a
desireable thing to do. (Personally, I can dearly love an environment
where I can customize absolutely everything. It is also the case that
certain people, when given the opportunity to change something, will
change things just to be different. Such flexibility cries out for
expression!) The serious question which goes begging in all of this is
"If we give the 'ordinary' user enough rope, will s/he hang
him/herself?". I think it possible that if we give the novice user
enough power, s/he may design an environment which at first appears
wonderful, but which may eventually alienate him/her. This is not
exactly the fault of the software, but a fault of the design process.
Maybe this design, which has sparked this discussion and countless
others without sign of solution, is not something which we ought to
leave to the "ordinary" human editor? We trust in architects to design
our homes; is software design for public use perhaps similar?
-IAN! (U of Waterloo)
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