TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Dick,
What motivation do the users that you describe have for learning
all those shortcuts?
I know the shortcuts in my bread-and-butter programs. In the
occasional programs, I'll futz around in the menus, use the
Insert menu and browse button to my heart's content, etc.
The different shortcuts available in different programs are just
jarring enough to introduce uncertainty and cognitive dissonance. I
have enough dissonance in my life, thank you.
You seem to be used to a big display with a readily available
desktop and lots of windows to drag and drop. Forget it. Everything
on my box opens full screen or I force it full screen (since
everything is full screen and I typically have 4 to 6 programs
loaded I love my Alt+Tab key combo).
My desktop is already an avalanche of program icons. Adding a doc
file to it means I'll never see that doc again (Well, almost never.)
(Also, the distinctions among Click, Alt+Click, Ctrl+Click and
Shift+Click remain above my level of competence and below my
threshold of interest.)
Jim Shaeffer (jims -at- spsi -dot- com)
> . . do they drag the file into the mail composition window? No.
> Do they use keyboard shortcuts? No. They find the Insert menu
> . . . and navigate around in a File Open window until
> they can locate the file, which is sitting right on their desktop.
>
> Similarly, they know how to close a window, but not how to minimize
> it. . .
>
> So what is it? What is the connection between the ability to learn
> and use shortcuts and right brain dominance? Is there one? Am I just
> imagining this?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Free copy of ARTS PDF Tools when you register for the PDF
Conference by May 15. Leading-Edge Practices for Enterprise
& Government, June 3-5, Bethesda,MD. www.PDFConference.com
Check out RoboDemo for tutorials! It makes creating full-motion software
demonstrations and other onscreen support materials easy and intuitive.
Need RoboHelp? Save $100 on RoboHelp Office in May with our mail-in rebate.
Go to http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
