Dev:Ref/Proposals/UI/Hot-key selection in lists and menus
目次
(Context/create menus, Modifier drop down, file selection, etc.):
Problem and current system
Most time consuming part of list selection is scrolling and mouse navigation, thus in frequently used lists it is considerable time saver to use hotkey navigation, which is currently implemented via first letter hotkey, saving a lot of time. Unfortunately, many lists have more than one same letter items, rendering reflex-action fallback to conscious-decision-initiated as you have to remember which first letters are and are not available in each part of interface.
Solution
One solution may be adopting the system used by many OS windowing systems: Pressing letter moves focus highlight to the item with appropriate first letter, and selection is activated via Enter to confirm. If current item in focus is already beginning with pressed letter the focus is cycled to the next item beginning with that letter.
Advantages
Countrary to what might seem obvious, often selection in this way is faster than typing more than one letter aka Auto-search style selection, even if user has to cycle over three to four items. As well it is often faster than single button hotkey, where there is more than one same letter item and suitability must be recalled consciously before proceeding. When cycling through the list, after the first hit, consequent repeated hits are not concentration demanding and the whole sequence of LMB 
SSS↵ Enter is rapidly memorized as a single action, eliminating further learning of hotkeys in lists.
One more use of this technique is ability to quickly navigate through lists that have no ordering before making selection decision.
Disadvantages
Single key hot-key is faster in small, short, rarely changed menus if it is already memorized.
