[bookport] Re: Experiences on Note Taking with the BP
- From: "Gary Wunder" <gwunder@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 15:31:34 -0600
Fantastic idea.
----- Original Message -----
From: "ptorpey" <ptorpey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, March 18, 2005 8:07 AM
Subject: [bookport] Experiences on Note Taking with the BP
Let me start by saying that I think the note taker function being beta
tested now is a great enhancement to the Bookport's functionality and
will be very useful.
However, I have a few observations from working with the note taker and
a few suggestions on making it more user-friendly and easier to use.
First, as many have pointed out on this list, the Bookport is primarily
a reading device. Thus, the note taking function will probably be used
intermittently or on rare occasions by many users. This means that
users may not be as conversant with the note taking functions/keystrokes
as they would with many of the other more routinely used Bookport
functions/keystrokes. Therefore, in lieu of a "key learn" or "key
speak" mode which can quickly refresh the user's memory of what
keystrokes perform what function, it is particularly important that the
functions/keystrokes be intuitive and easy to remember.
In particular, before the beta is officially released, I think it is
worthwhile considering modifying some of the keystroke combinations
currently used in the Bookport's note taker mode. Most of the keyboard
and functions for the note taker are well laid out. Some keystrokes I
find particularly difficult to remember are things like "mark", "paste",
"go to mark", etc. To me these keystrokes do not seem to be intuitive
and, using the note taker only occasionally, I am prone to forget these.
Since we do have a braille keyboard in the note taker, here is my
suggestion for a more intuitive and user-friendly approach to assigning
functions. As with the "find" command, which uses shift + f (dots
1-2-4), I think it would be a good idea to assign shifted character
keystrokes to other functions. Proper assignment of the shifted
character would provide the user with a simple mnemonic by which to
remember the function without having to move to the manual and search
for the desired function.
Here are some examples:
1. Shift + P = paste contents of clipboard
(alternately, shift + V to paste as is common in Windows)
Note: the note taker does use shift + C to copy to clipboard, so
this is a simple extension
2. Shift + G = go to mark
3. Shift + M = mark text at this point
4. Shift + d = delete characters between the mark and the cursor
5. Shift + R = read from current position
6. shift + t = go to top of note document
7. shift + e = go to end of note document
8. shift + o = open a new note
9. shift + n = if in a document, go to last note opened, if
pointing to a note open current note for edit.
Well, you get the idea. With so many functions and keystrokes to
remember in a mode which may not be used as frequently as other modes, a
mnemonic based system would be very helpful.
What do others think?
-- Pete
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