en.wp user Ruud Koot comments:
"People have come to expect certain things of a WYSIWIG editor: [...] when I input an enumerated list by stating my lines with numbers followed by a dot, the editor should automatically convert this to a proper enumerated lists; etc. Microsoft Word provides exactly this kind of functionally. For an experienced editor like me, having to using my mouse to click a toolbar button takes more time than inputting this in the source editor. A novice editor, who likely is experienced with Microsoft Work, might expect the editor to be this intelligent and not even recognize the toolbar buttons for what they are."

See also bug 51408 which requests the same functionality for unordered lists

Version: unspecified
Severity: enhancement
See Also:
https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=51408