RE: Find as you type for navigation

Bruce Bailey is right in pointing out that the "the first letter" principle
as implemented in Windows Explorer and in many other lists in Windows is not
the only workable concept or "algorithm" for "Find as you type" in lists.

But it works well in more simple use cases, and it is certainly the most
easy to understand and use for any user.

Bruce Bailey is also right in pointing out that in more advanced use cases,
as in very long lists, and with advanced users, there are better
alternatives to "the first letter", in many types of lists.

But we are not considering lists in general, advanced use cases, and
especially not long lists, and we are not considering advanced users.

We are talking about very short lists of links in the average web page,
often only a handful. We are talking about links most often not shown as a
list but anywhere in navigation and text and often a screen apart. Some
links are short, some are several lines long. We are talking about any user
including a lot of users with disabilities in need of the keyboard for
navigation.

For "Find as you type" for links in "link mode", we should go for the most
simple principle with the least number of typing most of the time, with the
least involvement of thinking and decision making, and it must be easy to
spot and follow what is gong on.

Best regards,
and thanks for your contribution,

Jesper Tverskov,
www.smackthemouse.com

Received on Friday, 28 July 2006 13:25:16 UTC