Erase and Rewind Vs. Undo

Not a new idea at all but imagine for a moment that life could have an option to "go back on an action" . Looking at it from an interaction design point of view - nothing better to do !!!! - I was wondering would an "UNDO" button be better or an " Rewind and Erase" function better.

Well, perhaps this is due to the bias because of the "rewind and erase song" from the roxette - which i really like ;) -, I guess I for one would prefer the rewind and erase mode of interaction.

It more of an intutive decision but here is a glimpse of why I believe it would be better. Undo kind of implies to me that the action is simply undone - its like denying that actions its place in time !
With rewind and erase its a conscious decision - you recognize the action has occurred and make an effort to go back and ERASE it. There is more of a psychological sense of coming back to the place where you were and starting fresh - at least to me.

Its amazing when a seemingly insignificant difference like this can have so many implications for different people. Most people just shrug it off as something weird but for the ones who do listen and think over it - its quite a realization.

Well design does change your thinking doesn't it.
I remember something our ex- HOD Prof. Sudhakar Nadkarni said to us on our first day in college -
"Design can't be taught - It's learnt"
Well the statement is profound each time you look at it.

More on the statement later !

Comments

Sid said…
Well i'd choose "undo" any day...rather erase the memory of an unagreeable event happenin than to remember that it has been erased and a new chain is taking its place...i'd rather not acknnowledge the presence of that event in the so called "timeline".
another reason...with Undo, if things get fucked up on the alternate path, i can simply undo and redo the original, less fucked up thing ;)
6:22 PM
Anonymous said…
Genial dispatch and this enter helped me alot in my college assignement. Say thank you you for your information.
4:02 PM
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