I am a retired Architect who has specialised in CAD drafting for forty-five years, been CAD manager for ten years and taught AutoCAD at university and TAFE level. I began using AutoCAD from Release 1. and ALWAYS used the Commandline with a clean blank screen heavily supported by AutoLISP customisation. I developed MycadKEYS over several years and recently began updating it and re-imaging it to MycadHELPER in order to avoid all that experience going to waste. The task is almost complete and you are invited to try it out and perhaps help in its refinement. If you use it well; as I have for most of my professional career you shouls be able (as I did) to improve your drafting output and improve the quality and accuracy of your work while you are at it.
Started using AutoCAD mid-eighties (Release 1). Used AutoCAD virtually full-time as an architect specializing in documentation for nearly thirty years. Used Autolisp since its introduction and still using it. Created first tertiary public AutoCAD Course in Brisbane Queensland and later taught AutoCAD at University of Technology Queensland for several years. Contributed to ISO/DIS 1356 Standard on Layer naming during public consultation stage. CAD manager of a large firm of architects for ten years.
Learned to issue AutoCAD commands entirely from the keyboard and never changed. Never really found found menus useful. Learning command names and responses much quicker when typed at command line. Also found the growing plethora of menus was wasteful of screen space and difficult to use when altered or too many. The appearance of dialogue boxes made the learning of and the use of seldom used commands easier but also slower so by preference,, once learned, I used command-line versions. This approach definitely aided the learning and use of Autolisp.
Over a period of approx. twenty-five years progressively developed the original MYCADKEYS into a sophisticated alternative AutoCAD user interface that uses an absolute minimum of keystrokes to commence and execute commands, provide an extensive range of enhanced commands and a complete semi-automatic set of layer commands including an ISO/DIS compliant naming system.