🚀 go-pugleaf

There is one advantage to non-verb for _sequences_ of commands on a given
object: you don't have to constantly rename the target object.  So a
sequence might be noun-verb-verb-verb.  The utility (or even desirability)
of this obviously varies with the application.  I use sequences like this
often when using a drawing program to make complex, multi-object-group
diagrams.

On the other hand, the inverse kind of sequence is also common: perform the
same operation on multiple objects.  Many Apple-style drawing programs do
this by having you select an operation from a menu of operations, and
applying that operation to any object you point at until you select a
different operation.  I suspect that this choice is somewhat less driven by
abstract CHI principles than by the dictate that the Macintosh had to use a
one-button mouse.

It seems clear to me that both styles should be available at any time to a
user, since the choice is dictated more by the immediate work flow than by
the kind of work (which application is being used) or by "goodness" of UI
design.
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Bruce Cohen, Computer Research Lab        email: brucec@tekcrl.labs.tek.com
Tektronix Laboratories, Tektronix, Inc.                phone: (503)627-5241
M/S 50-662, P.O. Box 500, Beaverton, OR  97077