#289240 - 03/11/2006 15:48
Mouse welding
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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I have a new job as of a few weeks ago, and, unfortunately, a larger portion of my job is now helping people with Windows issues.
What I've noticed is how many people have the mouse welded to their hands. It amazes me how many people have to use the mouse. I get the impression that they'd type with it if they could.
For example, logging into a Windows machine usually looks like this:
Ctrl-Alt-Del
Move mouse to username entry field
Click
Type username
Move mouse to password entry field
Click
Type password
Move mouse to "OK" button
Click
Whereas when I do it, it's:
Ctrl-Alt-Del
Type username
Hit tab
Type password
Hit enter
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Bitt Faulk
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#289241 - 03/11/2006 16:29
Re: Mouse welding
[Re: wfaulk]
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old hand
Registered: 14/04/2002
Posts: 1172
Loc: Hants, UK
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I'm also amazed at how slowly people perform basic tasks which I assume they do every day, even simple tasks in Word and Outlook that should become second nature.
Also the number of people who don't know Ctrl+C/V for copy/paste, the delete key removes characters to the right of the cursor etc...
Gareth
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#289242 - 03/11/2006 16:30
Re: Mouse welding
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12318
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Ahh, you've hit upon my favorite of those cases. I see that all the time. I'd say that about 75% of the people that I've observed during my time as a support person do what you're describing. Another thing I've observed is that it seems only 10% of the people I've assisted know how to Alt+Tab. It saddens me that to these people, tab will always represent an indentation in a document. But I don't think the issue is that they're welded to the mouse. The problem is that they switch too much. If I'm typing anything longer than four letters, I have both hands on the keyboard. Other wise, it's right hand on mouse, left pinky almost always on Ctrl 
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Matt
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#289243 - 03/11/2006 17:34
Re: Mouse welding
[Re: Dignan]
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addict
Registered: 27/10/2002
Posts: 568
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Or possibly that their first use of a PC was with Windows, not DOS, so they haven't had the need to use keyboard shortcuts?
Stig
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#289244 - 03/11/2006 17:52
Re: Mouse welding
[Re: Dignan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Quote:
to these people, tab will always represent an indentation in a document
You think that it's that they don't know that tab will switch to the next entry field?
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Bitt Faulk
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#289245 - 03/11/2006 17:54
Re: Mouse welding
[Re: wfaulk]
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enthusiast
Registered: 18/02/2002
Posts: 335
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#289246 - 03/11/2006 18:34
Re: Mouse welding
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31570
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
You think that it's that they don't know that tab will switch to the next entry field?
Correct.
As much as I get annoyed by the little help pop up balloons in Windows and Office, I think that'd be a great addition to the login screen. It could detect when people are doing the click, type, click, type thing, and it could (hopefully unobtrusively) remind them that they can press tab.
Wow, listen to me, I sound like a Microsoft employee or something.
(As I type this on a late RTM candidate of Vista. )
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#289247 - 03/11/2006 19:13
Re: Mouse welding
[Re: tfabris]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 15/01/2002
Posts: 1866
Loc: Austin
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Google used to, and probably still does, tell you that you could hit enter rather than clicking the search button.
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#289249 - 03/11/2006 19:17
Re: Mouse welding
[Re: RobotCaleb]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12318
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Quote:
Google used to, and probably still does, tell you that you could hit enter rather than clicking the search button.
It did? Neat, I didn't see that. Where did it tell you?
I don't see it doing that now though, either in IE or Firefox.
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Matt
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#289250 - 03/11/2006 20:29
Re: Mouse welding
[Re: Dignan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3995
Loc: Manchester UK
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I like the fact that typing Shift-Tab reverses the tab order in OSX. Keep forgetting to try it in Windows to see if this works there. I was putting an order in over the phone this afternoon and I could hear the woman muttering 'control and c...... and...... control and v' under her breath as she copied details from one field to another.
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Cheers,
Andy M
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#289251 - 03/11/2006 20:39
Re: Mouse welding
[Re: andym]
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old hand
Registered: 23/07/2003
Posts: 869
Loc: Colorado
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Quote:
Keep forgetting to try it in Windows to see if this works there.
It does.
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Dave
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#289252 - 03/11/2006 20:42
Re: Mouse welding
[Re: Dignan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/07/1999
Posts: 5539
Loc: Ajijic, Mexico
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10% of the people I've assisted know how to Alt+Tab.
Not to mention Shift-Tab.
Or Alt-F10 to emulate a right-click.
tanstaafl.
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"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"
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#289253 - 03/11/2006 21:14
Re: Mouse welding
[Re: tanstaafl.]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31570
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
Or Alt-F10 to emulate a right-click.
As I recall, I had to look that one up for you. That's a pretty obscure (but potentially incredibly useful) one.
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#289254 - 03/11/2006 21:25
Re: Mouse welding
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
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Quote:
As much as I get annoyed by the little help pop up balloons in Windows and Office, I think that'd be a great addition to the login screen. It could detect when people are doing the click, type, click, type thing, and it could (hopefully unobtrusively) remind them that they can press tab.
Wow, listen to me, I sound like a Microsoft employee or something.
To properly sound like an MS employee, you need to make sure such a feature is on all the time, even for all the users who already know to hit tab. Or, maybe allow it to be turned off by hiding a checkbox 8 levels deep in some arcane control panel and offer no way to search for it. If the checkbox is there, make sure any patch to the system turns it back on, even if the patch is to something different.
Clearly you haven't been at MS long enough to be fully aligned with the collectives thought patterns :-)
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#289255 - 03/11/2006 22:10
Re: Mouse welding
[Re: wfaulk]
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old hand
Registered: 17/01/2003
Posts: 998
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What pisses me off is when I tab and it does not go to the next field because of lazy programing.
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#289256 - 03/11/2006 23:04
Re: Mouse welding
[Re: Redrum]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31570
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
What pisses me off is when I tab and it does not go to the next field because of lazy programing.
Sometimes it's not just lazy, it's ignorant. It's the programmer's equivalent of not knowing you can press Tab: not knowing you can set the tab order of UI elements.
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#289258 - 04/11/2006 02:40
Re: Mouse welding
[Re: oliver]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 20/01/2002
Posts: 2085
Loc: New Orleans, LA
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Don't forget that alt-shift-tab reverses alt-tabbing order. On XP and beyond, Windows-L locks the workstation, I LOVE that one. And of course, Windows-pause is system properties, useful for tech types. I used to HATE the windows button, now I can't live without one. For anyone who has ever lost a window on the screen because it's flown past the edge, alt-minus then m then arrows to move it around, or just alt-minus then x to maximize.
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#289259 - 04/11/2006 03:55
Re: Mouse welding
[Re: lectric]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 12/11/2001
Posts: 7738
Loc: Toronto, CANADA
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The Windows key on current keyboards is still a lot more useful in Mac OS than it is in Windows. I wish MS had created even more Windows key shortcuts. Such as creating new folders, closing windows, quit, etc... My GF still doesn't use CTRL-C/V - I'm pretty sure she always uses the Edit menu. I really can't stand to watch her use a computer. Even though she uses one every single day and has for at least 5 years. Of course she's always had pretty crap machines and is currently burdened with a Toshiba notebook with a useless trackpad and equally useless IBM-style pointer thingy. Though I suppose that's even more reason to use the keyboard. 
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#289260 - 06/11/2006 19:46
Re: Mouse welding
[Re: Dignan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 13/02/2002
Posts: 3212
Loc: Portland, OR
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Quote:
Quote:
Google used to, and probably still does, tell you that you could hit enter rather than clicking the search button.
It did? Neat, I didn't see that. Where did it tell you?
Up at the top of the results page, right under the search box.
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#289261 - 07/11/2006 00:58
Re: Mouse welding
[Re: canuckInOR]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12318
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Google used to, and probably still does, tell you that you could hit enter rather than clicking the search button.
It did? Neat, I didn't see that. Where did it tell you?
Up at the top of the results page, right under the search box.
It's funny, it didn't do it on my work computer with either browser, but it worked at home.
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Matt
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#289262 - 07/11/2006 08:27
Re: Mouse welding
[Re: Dignan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5681
Loc: London, UK
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Quote:
Quote:
Google ... hit enter rather than clicking the search button.
...Where did it tell you?
I think that part of the page cycles through a relatively small collection of Google tips, so it's not always there.
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-- roger
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