[IxDA Discuss] Microsoft's Inductive User Interface (IUI)?

[Will Parker]

On Jul 1, 2007, at 7:55 PM, Richard (ENT Technologies) wrote:

> I tried this once (IUI) and it actually works well, in certain  
> circumstances. I wrote a
> program for my boss that he uses for a few minutes, once a month.  
> Instead of
> relearning the application each time, he pretty much just follows  
> the instructions now.
>
> I would not use it for an application that is used every day. It  
> would become irritating
> once you became proficient.

Wizard-like hand-holding, as appears to be the main thrust of the  
MSDN article, is fine for seldom-used functionality, but I really  
wasn't kidding about the Microsoft Bob influence shown in that document.

I vividly remember being tasked with doing a quick support-oriented  
analysis of Microsoft Bob for the other folks on a retail tech  
support team back in the early '90s. After I noted that it took no  
less than seventeen clicks to re-save an existing file after editing  
it, we decided word of mouth would soon kill any potential spike in  
support incidents. We were correct, too - the only support calls  
involved how to get the bloody thing uninstalled.

- Will

Will Parker
wparker at ChannelingDesign.com

“I wish developing great products was as easy as writing a check. If  
that were the case, then Microsoft would have great products.” -  
Steve Jobs