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List:       kde-core-devel
Subject:    User Interface.. If you ever wrote or will write a software GUI, then READ THIS!
From:       Christian A =?iso-8859-13?q?Str=B8mmen=20=5BNumber1=2FNumeroUno=5D?= <number1 () re
Date:       2001-03-09 1:58:58
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I recently got hold of a page on the web that changed the way I look at user 
interfaces, this was a really extreme experience for me, and I really believe 
that this article (/book) is something EVERY KDE hacker should read.

The article (/book) is located at 
http://joel.editthispage.com/stories/storyReader$51

Take some time and read it..

I want to summarize a small part of the stuff I believe should be changed in 
KDE, changes that I got from this article (/book):

1) About four years ago, many windows started sprouting three little ridges 
on the bottom right corner which look like a grip. It looks like the kind of 
thing somebody would put on a slide switch to increase the friction. It 
affords dragging. It just begs to be dragged to stretch the window. Look at 
picture resize-grip.gif 

2) If you read what's on the last part of page 4, you'll see that the 
settings dialog that appears in for example kmail and konqueror are really 
bad, tabs are much more preferable (please read this yourself, and you'll get 
the point)

3) The less text the better! Less less less less less!!! (page 6)

4) A dropdown combobox should show ALL of the entries, it SHOULD NOT CONTAIN 
A scrollbar!!! (page 7)

5) Use monospace fonts for editboxes!  Fonts with variable spaces are not 
good for this! (page 7)


The stuff above is only a small portion of what I believe should be fixed at 
once in KDE and that's listed in the article (/book).  Again, please take the 
time to read this, I can promise it'll be worth it!

Last, some wisdom words from the article (/book):
"A user interface is well-designed when the program behaves exactly how the 
user thought it would."
"Every time you provide an option, you're asking the user to make a decision. 
Asking the user to make a decision isn't in itself a bad thing. The problem 
comes when you ask them to make a choice that they don't care about."
"Users Don't Read the Manual."
"Users can't control the mouse very well."

-- 
\ Christian A Str¸mmen /
\ Number1/NumeroUno @ Undernet - Email: number1@realityx.net /
\ Web: www.realityx.net - Cell: +47 911 43 948 /
   Live your life by your dreams,
     not by the limits of reality...
["resize-grip.gif" (image/gif)]

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