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List:       kde-devel
Subject:    Re: Ui enhancements
From:       "Troy Corbin Jr." <tcorbin () users ! sourceforge ! net>
Date:       2003-01-25 22:08:16
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On Saturday 25 January 2003 12:50 pm, Kevin Krammer wrote:
> On Samstag, 25. Januar 2003 19:00, Volker Augustin wrote:
> > The solution to reduce the complexity is categorizing the options in
> > normal options and advanced options which might reside on a separate
> > tab.
>
> For the really advanced options it might be sufficient to document them in
> some sort of power user guide, which would specify the config file, the
> options section and key and the possible values.
>
> Someone could then provide an extra tool like TweakUI on Windows.
> This would be a nice beginner's project for developers new to KDE
> development :)

I never liked the idea of TweakUI because now the user has to check two apps 
to find the option they wanted to configure. It would be like clicking 
'Settings' in KMail and finding 'Configure KMail...' along with 'Configure 
More KMail...'.

This discussion reminds me of the GEOS GUI and something I read about it years 
ago. They had a global 'complexity' value that determined the types of 
options presented to the user. 'Expert' mode would show all the options to 
configure everything, 'Intermediate' would show a smaller, but still powerful 
subset of these options, and 'Beginner' would show just the basics.

IMHO, implementing something like this would solve usability's desire to 
simplify the interface for newbies, while still allowing the experienced 
users to have all the bells and whistles we want. And by making it something 
that all KDE apps can access, we can present a consistant experience to our 
users that's functional without being overwhelming.
-- 
Troy Corbin Jr.
troy@knights-chess.com
http://www.knights-chess.com
 
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