Have you ever watched an experienced heads down data entry clerk do their job? With a green screen system they rarely look at the keyboard and in most cases ignore the screen. They are responding to audible feed back (key press clicks, console beeps, etc) with their eyes focused on the data to be input. They remember key sequences (press 1, A, down arrow 2 times, F2 to save) to navigate. A mental model of the screens become ingrained in theirs head. They 1CSEE 1D the application in their head and that vision is updated real-time. They know the system because it 19s predictable.
In the cases I mentioned above the primary source for the complaints was the mouse. It 19s unpredictable. It 19s next to impossible to remember the cursor 19s position at anytime 26even worse, to know the exact movement. The mouse requires visual contact with the screen, an impediment for heads down data entry.
As a developer I used to think I was empowering the users by creating flexible user interfaces. Multi window applications with buttons and icons; to take advantage of a modern GUI was to deliver the best we had to offer. When the complaints rolled in about the entry screens I dismissed them 1Cgrowing pains".
It took me some time to realize their dilemma. They WERE better off with the original entry screens.
Something to think about....
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