Green Screens - Better?
I've said this before, as have plenty of other people I know. But over at Strongly Typed, there's a great explanation of why data entry applications suffer when people are moved from text oriented screen apps to GUI apps (web or client/server):
Have you ever watched an experienced heads down data entry clerk do their job? With a green screen system they rarely look at the keyboard and in most cases ignore the screen. They are responding to audible feed back (key press clicks, console beeps, etc) with their eyes focused on the data to be input. They remember key sequences (press 1, A, down arrow 2 times, F2 to save) to navigate. A mental model of the screens become ingrained in theirs head. They SEE the application in their head and that vision is updated real-time. They know the system because it's predictable.
In the cases I mentioned above the primary source for the complaints was the mouse. It's unpredictable. It's next to impossible to remember the cursor's position at anytime - even worse, to know the exact movement. The mouse requires visual contact with the screen, an impediment for heads down data entry.
As a developer I used to think I was empowering the users by creating flexible user interfaces. Multi window applications with buttons and icons; to take advantage of a modern GUI was to deliver the best we had to offer. When the complaints rolled in about the entry screens I dismissed them "growing pains".
It took me some time to realize their dilemma. They WERE better off with the original entry screens.
Something to think about....
Comments
[Eric] June 8, 2004 15:55:10.577
And don't forget the screen response time - on 5250's or anything of the ilk, response time is often instantaneous. Even switching views is incredibly fast. Can GUI apps today yet claim that?
Retro Text GUI's
[Peter William Lount] June 8, 2004 16:04:31.276
A client recently asked me to consider rewriting a DOS and text based application that they still use in production since it's better than an ANY of the newer GUI based applcations. After discussions with him on the specifics and trying out the various programs it's clear that the old DOS program wins on interaction speed performance due to it's closly matching the use cases with appropriate keyboard commands. When someone is using it all day the user interface makes a huge difference. The Windows based programs could do this but none of them do (and there are at least ten of them out there!)
Punctuation control
[DeanG] June 8, 2004 16:31:33.102
Did you cut-and-paste this entry from a rich text editor, or is my browser mis-interpreting something? ". They 1CSEE 1D the application in their head"
No need for translation, but I was expecting some kind of quip at the end regarding data encoding control on terminal entry vs. GUI or Web inputs. :-)
[Vincent Foley] June 8, 2004 22:03:18.200
I seriously think that GUI applications are far too present right now. GUI applications are great for certain usages such as IRC chatting, IM messenging, web browsing, RSS aggregators, tools to visualize data, etc. But I seriously think that when it comes to data entry, nothing beats a well-designed console application. Let me give you a real-life example that I have noticed in the last weeks.
In the little village where I live, there are two places you can rent movies from: the convenience store and the little family-owned video store. Both have computerized systems to manage locations and clients and all. The convenience store (CS) uses a GUI systems, the video store (VS) uses a command-line (sort of like ncruses) system. I go to both places, and I can tell you, that at the VS, the clerks are much faster, and it's not because they have more experience. They know that to find a client, they need to press F2, then write the client number (most of us know it, else they go to phone number (press the down arrow) and most clients know their phone numbers), press Enter, then they enter the cassette/DVD number (all digits, so they use the numpad) in a blink, press F10 or something and it's in. They spend very little time positionning where they want to be in the application, they know where they are and input is fast and efficient.
On the other, the CS clerks need to use the mouse to put their cursor in the phone number field, they they type it, take the mouse and go click on "Find" (the guy who wrote the system didn't make that button default (so you just press Enter)), then they need to click in another field to input the movie numbers. The input of those numbers doesn't take much more time, but the whole process is.
James here often talks about the productivity of Smalltalk programmers. We also need to think about the productivity of users. A nice GUI is maybe not always the answer.
GUI app that works like a non gui app...
[Nick] June 11, 2004 19:17:26.390
Why not create an application that can behave like both a modern GUI app and a heads down data entry app? There are many ways one could accomplish this. Either make the primary GUI behave like a traditional data entry application (buttons plus corresponding keyboard shortcuts) or create a "quick entry" screen that would provide this sort of functionality. The technology used really doesn't have much to do with it. It is thinking of your customer and designing the application to meet their needs rather than the generic needs of a GUI user or non GUI user.
Re: Green Screens - Better?
[ sander] June 12, 2004 5:43:41.968
Comment on Green Screens - Better? by sander
Ernest Micklei (Philemon) has developed a widget that emulates terminal behaviour, but has full access to all objects as well (like a workspace). Have a look at his ESUG 2002 presentation: http://www.philemonworks.com/downloads/ESUG2002.zip