Resist the urge to click!
DontClick.it got me by surprise. As it boldly claims in its first page, clicking on the link to launch the actual application will be the last click you’ll do while browsing the site. So I gave it a try… and I scorned at the thought of “drastic change of interface conceptual model”.
And then came the interface…everything is done using mouse gestures. You can browse and browse and browse without needing a simple click, just hover over your preferred link. The system scans for clicks and when you accidentally click, it asks you if you did it on purpose or accidentally and collects user input.
It’s very simple and intuitive, give it a try. You’ll need Flash 6 installed and a pretty powerful computer to fully experience it. It’s cool, it’s flashy, and it may be the next look we’ll have at interface design.
And remember! No clicks were hurt during the conduct of this experiment.
accessibility, alternative interface, mouse click, usability
January 17th, 2006 at 1:39 am
That was an original interface. As I didn’t see anything urging me to click, I didn’t feel the need to click. The only trouble I had figuring out what to do was the page suggesting a solution to stop clicking with your mouse. It took me a while to understand the connection between the rubber case and the mouse.
I wouldn’t dismiss the point and click interface just yet. For one I’m not completelly satisfied by the menu I saw. It’s certainly one of the best (no opverlaps and “hidden” links), but still too complicated for the less dexterous. I can well imagine my mother chasing boxes around the screen, clicking them to make them stop moving.
January 19th, 2006 at 6:48 pm
The truth is that : clicks are such an intuitive action that even naive users almost immediately understand and put them to use.
But that’s the challenge of this aspect : to completely change the conceptual model of a web interface that all typical users have.
Quite a challenge, though.