Chapter 11 – Command Names

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses command names. The designer's goal is to create a set of names that users would easily learn to recreate efficiently or interpret correctly at the appropriate moment. The naming practices of users could be influenced by the provision of name sets and other system support that lead naturally to effective and efficient interaction. When users name files, create macro commands, or create aliases for system terminology, they, too, are designing or extending name sets. A number of factors would vary from one name-set design to the next. Designers are expected to consider these factors more or less automatically. They are also expected to consider whether a command language is an appropriate design solution or to otherwise consider how names relate to the particular style of dialogue adopted. There are, nevertheless, many potential pitfalls. Designers might have intuitions about user psychology that are incomplete or just plain inaccurate. Existing command name sets within commercial products provide evidence of what designers do in arriving at name sets. However, for a given name-set design, it is difficult to determine how it was arrived at and how many people were involved in the design process.