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Design 2: Text-based interface
After selecting his classes, Miak copies the ascii schedule provided for him into a Word document and prints it out.
Now Miak is curious about what classes his friends are taking. He navigates to the "Friends" page using the menu and adds his friends using the search box provided, which lets him search by first or last name. He is delighted to see that 3 of his friends are also taking 24.100. However, nobody else is taking Stagecraft. Miak doesn't want to be the only one! He uses the menu to return to the search results page and uncheck Stagecraft so that he is no longer listed as taking it.
Learnability
- Learnability for this interface is generally low, since users have to keep knowledge of commands and valid tags in their head, rather than having that knowledge available "in the world."
- In addition, text based interfaces are very uncommon in web applications, so even users familiar with such interfaces may be caught off-guard.
- However, its resemblance to a Unix shell may increase learnability for users who are familiar with Linux or who use the command line frequently
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