Three Levels of Prompts

In 1980, while in the Army, I found myself writing a program to handle administrative details of security clearances. I had to define a human interface for a typewriter interface as monitors were not common. While working with this interface I codified the first of my Rules of Three. When a typewriter is the operator interface, the operator has to wait for each letter to type. So when prompting for information, if you had a long explanation, the operator was forced to wait while a long time while the prompt typed. By using and watching others use the interface, I discovered, very quickly, the operator learned the patterns and needed very little information in the prompt. So I developed a three tiered prompt system.

In the example on the right, the three levels of prompt are shown.

The first prompt was a single word or abbreviation, in this case: UID

If the operator pressed enter without entering a valid response, the system would give a slightly longer response. In the example abbreviation, UID, is expanded: Unit Identification Number

If that still didn’t explain enough then the system would give a full explanation. In this example, the what the UID is explained.

Curiously, people communicate the same way. This idea is expanded in the following pages:
Three Types of Student and The Word, Phrase, & Paragraph.