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List:       kde-core-devel
Subject:    Re: User Interface.. If you ever wrote or will write a software GUI, then READ THIS!
From:       Christian A =?iso-8859-1?q?Str=F8mmen=20=5BNumber1=2FNumeroUno=5D?= <number1 () rea
Date:       2001-03-09 10:56:36
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On Friday  9. March 2001 06:27, Waldo Bastian wrote:
> On Thursday 08 March 2001 12:25, Scott Manson wrote:
> > > 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."
> >
> > This last paragraph is a pipe dream a(n) User interface should be
> > customizable. I am a power user and I hate a popup box asking me Are you
> > sure 30 or 40 times a day. Albeit it is usefull for a newbie that is
> > getting used to the interface and system but the Are you sure gets old
> > after about the second time you're asked.
>
> Which is why KMessageBox as of KDE 2.2 has the option to show a "Do not ask
> again" checkbox.

But it should NEVER ASK IN THE FIRST PLACE!   :)  It scared people when the 
program asks the user if "are you sure you want to exit this program?", it 
makes them feel that something is "unsaved" in it.  Remove the dialog!

> > intelligent users (allowing the choice of turning off the confirmation
> > dialogs) or do we "force" our choices on an unsuspecting user(s) that
> > have less knowledge than an average user or is their a happy medium
> > between the two?
>
> Intelligence is irrelevant. You can put an intelligent person behind emacs
> or vi and (if he isn't experienced with it) will have a hard time using it.
> emacs is very powerfull but it has a very steep learning curve. The trick
> is to make an interface that makes it possible to do powerfull things but
> not to overwelm a new user with all the possibilities. I think of it as
> finding the right  combination between the easy of use of a mac, and the
> power of a UNIX command line prompt.
>
> > As far as I am concerned any UI that doesn't "scale" to the expertise
> > level of a(n) user is worthless you spend more time answering dialog
> > boxes than actually using the program.
>
> That's why confirmation dialogs that you can turn off are such a good idea.

Having them enabled by default isn't a good thing.. It's that simple..

-- 
\ Christian A Strømmen /
\ 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...

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