Designed in 2 Minutes?

Friday, November 26, 2004

How many ways?!

Now that I'm getting into the swing of ranting about Windows' windows, here's a short post regarding cognitive processes.

As you should be aware, having one clear way of performing an action (such as initiating a phone call from a mobile phone) with possibly a backup shortcut action for 'expert' users (eg. speed-dialling keys) is beneficial to the user as it reduces the amount of thought necessary to complete the action. Rather than thinking about which method will be quickest or most convenient to get the job done, the user can just get on and do it.

So why, then, are there so many ways of doing something as supposedly simple as closing a window in Windows?!

Let's count them:


  1. Click on the window's close icon
  2. Press Alt-F4
    (these two actions on their own should be sufficient!)
  3. Locate the window's icon on the taskbar, right-click, and click on 'Close'
  4. Locate the window's icon on the taskbar, right-click, and press Alt-F4
  5. Locate the window's icon on the taskbar, right-click, and press C
  6. Locate the window's icon on the taskbar, right-click, press the up cursor key, and press Return
  7. Click on the window's program icon (top-left of the window) and click on 'Close'
  8. Click on the window's program icon and press C
    note you can't use Alt-F4 on this menu as Alt closes the menu)
  9. Click on the window's program icon, press the up cursor key, and press Return
  10. Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to fire up the task manager, find the program, select it, and click 'End Program'
  11. Right click on the taskbar and fire up the task manager, find the program, select it, and click 'End Program'


Prizes for anyone who can extend my list to 15+ items - I'm sure I've missed at least some ;-)

[7:30pm - the prize goes to Andrew Oakley of Middlesex University who offered the following:]


  1. Press Alt-Space to open the window's control menu and click on 'Close'
  2. Press Alt-Space to open the window's control menu and press C
  3. Press Alt-Space to open the window's control menu, press the up cursor key, and press Return
  4. Select the File menu and click on Close/Exit
  5. Select the File menu and press C or X (depending on application)
  6. Select the File menu and scroll to Close/Exit using the cursor keys, then press Return
  7. Press Alt-F to open the File menu and click on Close/Exit
  8. Press Alt-F to open the File menu and press C or X (depending on application)
  9. Press Alt-F to open the File menu and scroll to Close/Exit using the cursor keys , then press Return
  10. Press Alt and use the cursor keys (across then down) to open the File menu and click on Close/Exit
  11. Press Alt and use the cursor keys to open the File menu and press C or X (depending on application)
  12. Press Alt and use the cursor keys to open the File menu and scroll to Close/Exit using the cursor keys , then press Return


Surely that's an exhaustive list now?

For your next assignment, try to find all the possible ways of saving a file in Windows :-)

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