[IxDA Discuss] Revealing Keyboard Shortcuts

[Eugene Chen]

I think this is a very important question. Keyboard shortcuts can be very
powerful, yet there is a large majority of people that will never learn
them. Those that do, probably only learn 3 or 4 shorcuts per application. 

To be more precise, keyboard use not only can be quicker than mouse, it can
enable different types of interaction: you can select with a mouse and then
act with the keys. You can enter information more precisely (5 taps instead
of a vague analog guess). It can be more ergonomic. It requires both less
hand and less eye movement than a mouse and thus it is easier to keep
attention focused on the task. 

Ableton Live is a music program that allows the user to utilize both the
computer keyboard and a midi (piano) keyboard to execute commands. Their
solution is to press a KEY button on a toolbar, this puts the screen into a
mode for both reviewing and programming keymappings. All the buttons are
overlayed with a translucent box displaying the keyboard shortcut. At this
point, the overlay can be selected and the keymapping can actually be
changed. During this mode, pressing keys will reprogram the mapping rather
than using the mapping. However, mouse can still be used.

The KEY button itself is visible all the time as a discovery path. 

On this page, search on Key Map Mode Switch to see
http://www.ableton.com/pages/tips/2004_04

Ableton Live is my favorite source of inspiration for new interfaces. They
turned every convention in music sw upsidedown by looking at what users
really needed and were successful at getting users to learn entirely new
conventions because they made perfect sense. It is a perfect example of
"activity-based" design. By changing the design, they enabled a new kind of
activity.




Eugene Chen  |  User Experience Research, Strategy and Design
mobile 415 336 1783  |  fax 240 282 7452 
web http://www.eugenechendesign.com  |  aim peastulip  |  skype eugene-chen



> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 12
> Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2006 11:00:30 -0500
> From: "Mark Richman" <markjrichman at gmail.com>
> Subject: [IxDA Discuss] Revealing Keyboard Shortcuts

>     I'd like to make keyboard shortcuts very clear in the current
> project. The only commonly-used method of which I'm aware is to
> underline the shortcut character within the command name. While this
> seems to work fine for menus which are at the periphery of a page, I
> don't like underlining letters on prominent buttons, fearing they may
> ultimately be an attention hog, and also might confound the viewer
> into thinking they are hyperlinks.
>