The Anti-Mac Interface (1996)

Re:The Anti-Mac Interface (1996) by pqdbr on Saturday July 04, 2015 @09:07PM (#9832147)

You touched another interesting point. I remember reading somewhere that Steve insisted the mac shouldn't have a 2 button mouse for such a long time just because it would force developers make a simpler UI, where no 'hidden menus' could be created. The lazy option of just throwing everything under a 'right click' simply couldn't exist.

If you think about it, Force Touch could create that 'right click' in iOS, which I think is a bad idea for starters. We already have hidden gestures and tap & hold, so there's already enough stuff hidden from plain sight in the User Interface.

Let's face it: the popularity of these devices came from the fact that they are really easy to use to the average user (think your mom for example). Will she know about Force Touch and incorporate that in her interface discovery process ?

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Re:The Anti-Mac Interface (1996) by ksk on Saturday July 04, 2015 @09:39PM (#9832215)

> The lazy option of just throwing everything under a 'right click' simply couldn't exist.

Right, instead they chose to create something even worse - Option-Click.

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Re:The Anti-Mac Interface (1996) by m_mueller on Saturday July 04, 2015 @09:29PM (#9832192)

I think there is a gradient when it comes to imterqctions and discoverability:

Text Buttons > Icon Buttons with hover text = menu entries with hotkey explained > menu entries with hidden hotkeys = ribbons > context actions with visible button > grouped context actions without visible button (right click / force touch) >> context actions with one hidden interaction per function (gestures)

The more complex your app, the deeper you need to reach down in this bag. What I want to say is, I'd still prefer a force touch menu over hidden gestures - what's idiotic is if you have enough space for something more discoverable, yet you opt for force touch or a gesture like in your watch example. But imagine MS Word on iPad with full desktop featureset - I'd be just fine with a force touch context menu there.

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Re:The Anti-Mac Interface (1996) by digi_owl on Sunday July 05, 2015 @09:36AM (#9833489)

* Let's face it: the popularity of these devices came from the fact that they are really easy to use to the average user (think your mom for example). Will she know about Force Touch and incorporate that in her interface discovery process ? *

Dunno about that...

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