The problem with this pattern is that command-k was already a commonly used shortcut for creating a link, which meant that products like Slack had to find something new for making a link so they overloaded paste which is super broken as a result.
> By stashing infrequently-used items in a command bar like this, […] You don’t need to add that extra toolbar or layer of menu items.
I’m concerned, from this description, about people putting features only in a command palette, and rendering features completely undiscoverable.
This is one of the big problems of Windows’ Start Menu ever since Vista. In XP, you could find all your programs easily. Vista kinda hid them, and Windows 8 hid them a little more, and 11 hid them a lot more. They’re still there, but honestly difficult to find.
So please make sure your features are still discoverable.
Also remember that a lot of users are shockingly bad at typing. Command bars are a power user feature.
How did these come to be associated with command-k and not command-p, which is the more common association at least for developer tools (chrome, vs code, sublime, figma, obsidian)? Command P makes sense since it is a Palette. Maybe it is just a weird quirk that all developer-facing tools use one binding while tools for the hoi polloi use the other.
Particularly offensive to try to name the whole concept after Slack’s default keybinding.
Half of the things you mentioned only came out after 2014. My Chrome wants to print with Comamnd-P.
But I'm not disagreeing in principle, I personally use so many of these fuzzy search things in so many apps, all with different keybinds (which is maddening in another way) - and maybe that's just the objectively most well-known one?
You’re right command-p prints in the common view, but opens command palette in devtools. That actually catches me out pretty frequently if I forget I moved focus.
Did you know that macos has had a per application menu that does this for years?
In most apps, press "cmd-shift ?" And you will activate the help search. I know, I know. We don't need help, but the other thing it does is reveal menu items from the native menubar.
It's great for finding fiddly commands in complex native apps.
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[ 5.2 ms ] story [ 34.2 ms ] threadhttps://ux.stackexchange.com/a/153937
Maggie Appleton's site is delightfully designed and thoughtful written. There are a ton of wonderful articles to enjoy there.
I’m concerned, from this description, about people putting features only in a command palette, and rendering features completely undiscoverable.
This is one of the big problems of Windows’ Start Menu ever since Vista. In XP, you could find all your programs easily. Vista kinda hid them, and Windows 8 hid them a little more, and 11 hid them a lot more. They’re still there, but honestly difficult to find.
So please make sure your features are still discoverable.
Also remember that a lot of users are shockingly bad at typing. Command bars are a power user feature.
Now if only they'd understand the power of immediate, pervasive extensibility in Lisp (Autodesk did!).
Particularly offensive to try to name the whole concept after Slack’s default keybinding.
But I'm not disagreeing in principle, I personally use so many of these fuzzy search things in so many apps, all with different keybinds (which is maddening in another way) - and maybe that's just the objectively most well-known one?
In most apps, press "cmd-shift ?" And you will activate the help search. I know, I know. We don't need help, but the other thing it does is reveal menu items from the native menubar.
It's great for finding fiddly commands in complex native apps.