From kde-usability  Tue Jul 09 16:34:49 2002
From: Simon Edwards <simon () simonzone ! com>
Date: Tue, 09 Jul 2002 16:34:49 +0000
To: kde-usability
Subject: Re: kcontrol
X-MARC-Message: https://marc.info/?l=kde-usability&m=102623293631272

Hi,

> Fourth, and I think this may be in the works, I think the Information
> stuff should be completely removed from kcontrol because it only shows =
you
> information about the OS, but you can not control it.  Kinda seems
> pointless to be in a 'Control Centre,' but like I said I think there is
> already and "Information Centre" under k_menu->settings.

Well, my car has a 'control center' of sorts; the dashboard and steering=20
wheel, and it too has stuff that is read-only (like temperature, oil etc)=
,=20
and can't be changed from behind the wheel.  The reason it belongs there =
is=20
because is because it is _useful_ to have it there.

Also think about the user's point of view. What is the most obvious place=
 to=20
go to look for stuff about the computer and how it is setup? The control=20
center of course.=20

How about a thought experiment. Meet Bob. Bob wants to find out about thi=
s=20
sound setup on his computer and maybe tinker with it. Bob's brain now=20
contains "I want to fiddle with the sound". Bob just installed Linux and=20
doesn't know much about it, but he saw the KDE Control Center and thought=
=20
"Hey, that looks like the place.". Now the problem with separating stuff =
out=20
of the control center just because it's read-only, is that for Bob to fin=
d=20
stuff concerning his sound setup he now has to _magically_ know what KDE=20
offers with respect to sound, ask himself if that's "read-only" or not, a=
nd=20
then know to go somewhere *other* than the control center to see the=20
read-only stuff. Bob sure has to magically know a lot of things to get wh=
ere=20
he is going... just before his brain only had "Want to fiddle with sound"=
 and=20
"KDE Control Center exists" in it.

So, don't organise stuff based on information the user doesn't have.

But, yeah, the hardware info modules need to be moved into tabs, and the=20
information category removed.

cheers,

--=20
Simon Edwards             | Guarddog Firewall
simon@simonzone.com       | http://www.simonzone.com/software/
Nijmegen, The Netherlands | "ZooTV? You made the right choice."


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