Emvi
Productivity
knowledge management interface
SHOW HN2020
How HN took it
13 positive, 18 neutral or asking, 0 mixed, 10 critical, out of 41 comments about the project. Thread score -0.01.
Design: 6 for, 5 againstIdea: 3 for, 4 againstDocs: 1 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Good to see keyboard navigation and shortcuts given attention
From 2 comments
Always good to see companies put some effort into good keyboard navigation! If you want a keyboard-first interface for your web browser I can recommend Vimium (which I'm sure a…
DavidVoid on HNI worked for a company that made software for libraries (public and academic). It evolved over many years, starting off as a terminal session onto a mainframe. The newer windows…
philjohn on HN
Commands are easier to remember than shortcuts
From 1 comment
We have not found any reliable numbers on keyboard usage vs mouse input yet, but it would be quite valuable. Compared to normal shortcuts the commands are easier to remember,…
dschramm on HN
Objections
Keyboard-first design is slow for users who can't touch type or on mobile
From 2 comments
I suspect most people here are forgetting that the average person types slower and finds keys slower than they can point-and-click, because they can't touch type. Keyboard-first…
Avamander on HNA big issue here are mobile/touch devices. You don't want to force your users into keyboard driven interaction there. But as decent mobile support is almost a requirement…
the_duke on HN
Lacks visible affordances showing what actions are possible
From 1 comment
I like the idea and I would use apps like this in my own personal life, but as a UX designer this is also a super horrible experience if you don't give any affordance in the UI…
httpsterio on HN
Slash shortcut is awkward on QWERTZ and AZERTY keyboards
From 1 comment
Using slash ("/") for commands can slow down many users not on QWERTY keyboards because "/" requires one to press shift (e.g. QWERTZ or AZERTY keyboards)
Quanttek on HN
No focus style on interactive elements, hurting keyboard accessibility
From 1 comment
I'm very confused by the fact that this page itself does not have a visible focus style on interactive elements, making it very difficult for somebody who navigates the web with…
otab111 on HN
Requests
Add a command help list and interactive tutorial
From 2 comments
We'll add a /help command showing general usage and a list of all keys and what they do :)
marvinblum on HNWe showed it to some people who are unfamiliar with command lines and they liked it. It's just that most non-technical users never encountered an interface like this, but they do…
marvinblum on HN
Make command trigger key customizable
From 1 comment
Good point. We are on QWERTZ aswell, so we are thinking about making it customizable at some point.
dschramm on HN
Provide German language selector or better English support
From 1 comment
Please add a language selector so I can read the website in English. Or maybe lose the German localization altogether. As a German native speaker, I find the German translation…
Hackbraten on HN
Questions
How do you onboard users to commands?
From 1 comment
I agree, that's one of the challenges we have to tackle. The commands being contextual to the page you are on helps in my point of view, but we have to explore ways of onboarding…
dschramm on HN
Which open source library handles shortcuts?
From 1 comment
Interesting, particularly useful for power users and high frequency usage products. Have you researched which applications have the highest penetration of keyboard usage and why?…
nadima on HN
Alternatives named
Vimium
From 1 comment
Always good to see companies put some effort into good keyboard navigation! If you want a keyboard-first interface for your web browser I can recommend Vimium (which I'm sure a…
DavidVoid on HN
Qutebrowser
From 1 comment
If you're going down that route I recommend Qutebrowser[0]. I'm a pretty staunch advocate of it since it doesn't feel at all like a "hack" of vim in the browser, and because it's…
dijit on HN
Tridactyl
From 1 comment
I have found tridactyl a great keyboard-driven navigation tool for browsers, with insane customizability. (Example - want to copy the git clone address into your clipboard? Just…
yewenjie on HN
Emacs
From 1 comment
An excellent keyboard-first interface exists already. It's called Emacs. Give it a chance. It might surprise you.
nemoniac on HN
Notational Velocity, Alfred, Quicksilver, Enso
From 1 comment
For (relevant) prior art, see Notational Velocity (which appears to have successors in various states, nvAlt and nvUltra). There's also Alfred, Quicksilver and Enso
eyelidlessness on HN