&46/ Just Found: Cut, Copy, Paste

Jakob Nielsen analyzes what he calls Generic Commands today. Interesting read!

"In application design, there's a tension between power and simplicity: Users want the ability to get a lot done, but they don't want to take the time to learn lots of complicated features.

• One way to address this dilemma is to use progressive disclosure - that is, to show users only the most important options until they ask for the advanced features.
• Another good approach is to use generic commands, which remain the same across many different contexts and thus reduce complexity."

And: "The cut-copy-paste triad offers the most famous example of generic commands. These 3 basic commands suffice to let users do everything from move text to edit movies."

Read the (unofficial) What if Jakob Nielsen had a blog? introduction! | Read the Alertbox article (generic commands)! | Read the Alertbox article (progressive disclosure)!