Undo in MaxThink - a workaround

Posted by letsemoir
Nov 8, 2010 at 09:28 PM

You may have misunderstood the true function of UNDO feature in MaxThink or rather, have grown fixated on the functions of undo from other softwares.

UNDO tries to stimulate empirical style of thinking (the trial-and-error/experimental approach) in the users’ minds by alternating between ‘previous’ and ‘reverse’. Hence, you can only undo 1-2 levels backwards.

The user alternates and reverses the action till the mind identifies the value of the action. Value may not be apparent from the information itself, but external. Looks simple on-screen but the magic is formed in the mind.

eg Top universities

Stanford
Harvard
UC Berkeley

Move ‘UC Berkeley’ before Stanford. Undo the action. Reverses the undo. It functions like a joggle till you grasp the value. UNDO in MaxThink is not meant to only correct a mistake.

LOCK is another interesting function. A few topics is locked by the topic cursor and moves along as up/down arrows keys are pressed. The action rearranges the structure of the outline/level rapidly (rubber-band) and allows the user to identify different arrangements, experimenting with values and/or relationships of the information in the outline/level.