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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    optionitis
From:       David Hugh-Jones <davidhj () managebid ! com>
Date:       2002-02-18 16:51:22
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This is a bit of a rant but hopefully a directed one.

I think KDE has optionitis. That is, there are too many unnecessary options.

There is a fine line here. I love KDE's options - I think it is great that you 
can make it behave like a Mac or a Windows machine, have 4 sizes for the 
panel, and so forth. And some options I don't use are probably used by 
others.

Nevertheless, you can make a safe diagnosis of optionitis when:

1) There is an option to control something that should just "do the right 
thing".
2) The number of options gets confusing to the user.
3) Options talk about internal system behaviour, rather than user-visible 
results


Here are some examples of optionitis in KDE (using 3.0 beta 2). You may 
disagree.

* The panel config dialog lets you set the size of hide buttons. Diagnosis 
(1). If the buttons are a sensible size, why would anyone need to customize 
them?
* There is an option to show or hide the side image in the K Menu. (1) again. 
If the side image is useful have it, if not, don't.
*KMail "Miscellaneous" configuration. "Loop in the current folder when trying 
to find unread mail". (3). Even with the very helpful context help for this 
option, I think it is hard for a user to figure out what s/he wants this to 
be. Given that the goal is to find your unread mail, I think that this option 
should either be on or off. Of course, either option has drawbacks, but that 
shouldn't stop the choice being made. 
* Konqueror "file manager", "Previews" tab. This lists different protocols so 
you can select which ones should use previews. (3) again. I can see the 
rationale. It is annoying for Konqueror to try to load previews over a slow 
ftp connection. But many users won't know what protocols are. It would be 
preferable to automate this decision, so that previews were not generated if 
the connection was slow.
* Screensave "Limit pixmap cache" option. (3). Again, users don't want to 
"limit the pixmap cache": they want their KDE box to be reasonably fast. The 
system should be capable of making this choice itself, based on amount of 
memory.

What causes optionitis? I don't know, but my guesses are:

* A new way to do things is introduced, but some users prefer the old system. 
An option is introduced to shut them up.
* Developers can't agree about the best way to do things: so they put in an 
option as a compromise.
* Developers write to scratch an itch. They are power users, and want more 
functionality, where a normal user would prefer simplicity.

I know that some of these claims are controversial. I don't want to get too 
bogged down in details. And again, I should emphasize that I _like_ KDE's 
configurability. It just needs to be moderated a little bit.

Perhaps we could figure out some guidelines for when options should be used, 
and when avoided? The KDE style guide doesn't seem to have any at the moment.

My first attempt would be:

* Options should make sense in user terms. ("Limit pixmap cache" - no; "Use 
less memory" - yes.) Even if you can explain a confusing option with context 
help, the fact that it is confusing should alert you to the question "Is this 
choice relevant to the end user"?
* Advanced options should be separated from simple options if possible, e.g. 
on a separate tab.
* Don't put an option in just because you're not sure what the best way to 
work is. Only put an option in if you are sure that different users need 
things to work differently.


Cheers

David








-- 
David Hugh-Jones
Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Trauemen erwachte, fand er sich 
in seinem Bett
zu einem ungeheueren Unixprogrammer verwandelt.
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