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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: KDE 3.0.2 Usability Study - First Steps
From:       "Aaron J. Seigo" <aseigo () olympusproject ! org>
Date:       2002-07-20 2:31:02
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On Friday 19 July 2002 08:18, Joseph Manojlovich wrote:
> Did you read Jesse Bisnette's post on this thread? While you're stuck on
> the noble goal of creating the best desktop, others are busy making
> desktops that act as the users expect, and are thus more approachable.
> Guess which one will win out? KDE might turn out being the "perfect"
> desktop from a theoretical usability standpoint, with no users because
> it's not what people want.

the grand assumption here is that people do not want their desktop to be 
consistent and easy to use but rather want it immediately familiar in every 
detail. and when i say "want" i don't mean what they would say if you asked 
them but what they would say through their actions after using the thing for 
6 months. 

people often say that Linux GUIs are a pile of  inconsistency that is less 
usable or at best ocassionally as usable as commercially available desktops. 
and they are right. how do you suggest we improve on this when the overriding 
urge is to mimic the faults of half a dozen different systems? we get all the 
worst of the competitors years after they've moved on!

instead how about we mimic the best things, drop the poor things and move on!

and i'm not suggesting anything radical like "let's get rid of vertical list 
menus" ... i'm suggesting that when it comes to the details that we attempt 
to create an interface that works well.

in all honesty, i'm very, very glad that you weren't around designing 
interfaces in the early 80s. we wouldn't have GUIs at all. everyone knew text 
interfaces, few had ever seen a mouse! wouldn't want to help them out with a 
better way of using computers. nope. give 'em what they know, that way 
they'll continue to use it. 

whatever.

> No. I'll tell you what they do, they continue using their old behaviors.
> Witness the usability study being discussed here. Most people will not
> care about the supposed benefits of things such as single clicking, but
> will think that "KDE is always in my face."

i don't expect people to notice, in fact, i hope they DON'T notice. one goal 
of an interface should be to get out of the way. ask people who use windows 
regularly how effective that interface is at "geting out of your way". 
uniformity in clicking is one way to help get that interface "out of your 
way".

we have issues w/selection and we have people starting to think of ways to 
address that.

we have issues with view vs edit in embedded viewers not being clear. and we 
have people thinking about ways to address that.

what incenses me is that anything not resembling windows is decried as 
"UNFAMILIAR! UNFAMILIAR! NEW USERS WON'T LIKE IT!" .. 

well, i don't use KDE because i'm a new user. i don't recommend it to people i 
know because they are new users. i don't install it on the machines used by 
those i work with because they are new users. i use, recommend and install it 
because it is a good Free environment. i'd like to see it become an Excellent 
Free environment.

perhaps my motivations are different than yours.

> MS Windows has had single
> clicking available for years; even with all the benefits associated,
> nobody uses it.

one word for you: defaults.

- -- 
Aaron J. Seigo
GPG Fingerprint: 8B8B 2209 0C6F 7C47 B1EA  EE75 D6B7 2EB1 A7F1 DB43

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler"
    - Albert Einstein
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