Short Cut

As I was helping one of my peers this week, I tried to interject some shortcuts into what we were doing so we could get it done sooner.

She slowed me down because 'I was going too fast.' and refused to learn any shortcuts because, I'll quote: 'I have too much work to do to learn shortcuts.

I was trying to help, but without using ShortCuts, I knew it was time to leave.

Why learn a shortcut when you can always find the answer by pulling down each and every menu item till you find it?

When you say you were "trying to help": were you trying to help her get a single instance of the task done, or trying to help her learn how to do the task? Keyboard shortcuts are great for the former.

But using them isn't so good for the latter: it's hard to learn a whole bunch of things at once, even if most of them are simple. Navigating the menus also helps reinforce the mental map of what's going on as she performs the task. And after she's done it a couple of times, she can switch over to the shortcuts, which should be easily discoverable (listed next to the menu items).

Finally, if it's not a task she will be doing frequently, the shortcuts aren't going to have much payoff, and probably won't be retained in her memory anyway.

There's a reason there are two ways to do things; use each one where it's appropriate. Don't fight the patrimony of PARC.

Let's introduce some shortcuts here for those who realize that learning a shortcut can save a great deal of time over one's lifetime.

Drag IT onto the DeskTop so you don't have to keep navigating to launch IT.
Leave RecentApplications? or the StartMenu? open on the DeskTop
CtrlAltDelete -- most PC users know that this is the quickest way to get one of those Microsoft OperatingSystems to start afresh
PropellerQ -- On a Mac, it usually tells the current program to quit,saving your work or asking you to do so.
AltTab -- on MicrosoftWindows and a Mac, it sometimes changes to the next task on the list

The best tip I received from another power user last year was this: When you see the KeyboardShortcut for an operation you wish to do on a PullDownMenu?, say it out loud, get out of the menu, use it, and say it outloud as it does it's magic that positively reinforces the learning experience

For more of these, see KeyboardClaw.