Action icons in menus

[Hans Meine]

Am Montag 13 Dezember 2010, 23:42:37 schrieb Dan Meltzer:
>  If common actions were all handled in this way, then it might
> actually lead to more consistancy, and ease of access.

I don't know.. how do I know whether I need to look for a large toolbar button 
at the top or for a regular menu entry below?

Who decides *what is a common action*?  (For instance, I usually remove 
cut/copy/paste from toolbars, since they waste space - come on, who uses the 
mouse for those actions??)

> Actions are
> not particuallarly consistant across applications,

It depends, in particular the cut/copy/paste set is typically found in 
(roughly) the same space, in the "Edit" menu.  That's a matter of UI style 
guide and I don't think we suffer from this w.r.t. those common actions.
(Please give concrete examples if you disagree.)

> and so it becomes
> necessary to read the entire list to find the item you are looking
> for.

..yet I find it easier to read through one long list than to
a) first, read the toolbar items at the top, and then
b) read the list below, which is in a totally different formatting.

I think that's my main problem with M$'s ribbons: I feel it takes me more time 
to locate actions which I know to be there (somewhere).

> If cut/copy/paste were always found as icons at the top of the
> menu in applications that support them, it would probably lead to
> accessing them quicker.

But only if the set of icons does not change from app to app, no?
Then, what's the difference compared with a predefined section in the edit 
menu (possibly requiring the actions to be at the top)?

Just my critical 2 cents,
  Hans