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List:       kde-devel
Subject:    Re: DOUBLE RIGHT-CLICK!!!
From:       Matthias Welwarsky <matze () stud ! fbi ! fh-darmstadt ! de>
Date:       2004-08-18 14:55:51
Message-ID: 200408181701.25534.matze () stud ! fbi ! fh-darmstadt ! de
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On Wednesday 18 August 2004 16:29, Maurizio Colucci wrote:
> On Wednesday 18 August 2004 16:15, Karlos wrote:
> > I had an idea for KDE, put the ability to perform an double right
> > click.. for example on a file, and it generates an event like open its
> > propieties, rename it, or something like this (let the user choose the
> > event?). Please answer me with your opinion!
>
> This feature is not discoverable. Only complex apps like Maya should use
> more than one button. For the general user, discoverability is crucial. A
> desktop environment should IMHO go in the opposite direction.

It is not necessary for every feature to be discoverable. I keep saying that 
with software usability, there's nothing really intuitive, because it's not 
in our genes. There are only things you got used to.

> I have an opposite idea: let's remove the right button and add a button
> "show context menu".

Yeah, and horribly break expectations of 90+% of our users. A "Show Context 
Menu" button is oxymoronic, because to click the button you have to leave the 
context: your mouse pointer has to travel away from the object you want to 
open the context menu for.

There is no such thing as a Zero-Slope learning curve for computer 
illiterates. If you have someone totally unfamiliar with computers and you 
hand him a mouse, he will possibly not even discover that he has to 
point-and-click to activate something. And you're not going to activate 
something by just hovering over it. THAT'd be discoverable, but a miserable 
failure in advanced use.

Face it: There are two ways to operate a compute desktop people are used to 
nowadays (if at all), and that's the Windows way, and the MacOS way. You will 
always have to mimic them for the simple things in order to not scare away 
beginners.

Double-Right-Click is not bad itself, but it is clearly meant for the advanced 
or power user, because it's a kind of accelerator: If you're used to it, it 
helps you do certain tasks faster.

regards,
	matthias
 
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