Part of the reading talked about the two methods of memory retrieval, recall and recognition. The reading implied that people are better at recognizing things than recalling them, and went on to explain that GUI’s are therefore easier to use than Command Lines. However, this seems like an opinion to me. While GUI’s are based on recognition, try to alter some advanced settings on your computer using a GUI and using a command line. In some cases, I think a command line is easier than GUI, like finding network information on Macs/UNIX machines. It’s a one word command (ifconfig) but with a GUI you have to browse through several network preference panes to get all the same information. I may be wrong, but am I the only one who thinks that text-based is sometimes easier?
Recall and GUI’s
January 15, 2008 — foxbjk3 Responses to “Recall and GUI’s”
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January 16, 2008 at 8:40 pm
I definitely agree with you that text-based commands are sometimes easier to use to perform a task than a GUI, however, there are definitely circumstances in which a GUI could make a process easier as well. I also feel that when working with a GUI people can learn faster by seeing themselves performing actions, such as clicking stuff, rather than with the command line which is pure text. Overall I feel that GUIs are made to ease use because they allow users to recognize and recall their previous actions, but not necessarily enhance the efficiency or speed of use.
January 17, 2008 at 2:07 pm
GUI’s offer a visual way to explore the OS. Although it may be a bit bulkier and slower to use, it allows us to see all options laid out and accessed with a simple mouse click. Text-based would definitely be faster but not necessarily easier. Theres a definite learning curve and it takes a while to get used to.
January 21, 2008 at 8:26 pm
This is a very interesting question! We’ll be talking about cognition tomorrow, and especially some of the concepts that contribute to these differences between users (some like GUI’s, while others prefer command-line). In the not-so-distant future, we may also be able to add gestural input to this already interesting list of input methods!