[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: Implementation of an intelligent, step-by-step help system
From:       Eric Ellsworth <whalesuit () softhome ! net>
Date:       2003-06-02 15:38:58
[Download RAW message or body]

Hello,

>>I'm thinking about a little window in the corner of the screen.
>>One of the 10 tasks listed will be "Do not show tutorials anymore".
>>This enables advanced users to turn it off with one single click.
>>    
>>
10 tasks strikes me as a lot to put in one window.  I think it should be 
the text of the message, and "click here for more information".    You 
know, this kind of functionality exists in OOo, and actually does a 
pretty good job behaviorwise.  In OOo a click on their message 
window brings up full help.  Perhaps we should do a review of OOo's 
behavior as a starting point.  Also, I hate to go on record as defending 
the dreaded clippy, but, if properly implemented, the idea of having 
some icon that the messsages are attached to is not a bad one.  It gives 
the user a consistent place to look for these messages.

>>>And when it's not in the k-menu, by "run command".
>>>      
>>>
>>When it's not in the kmenu, we expect it to not be installed, and the
>>kmail tutorial won't be shown.
>>    
>>

The way you've described the tasks you want to have appear in the 
message window (Write an email, open a document etc, etc)  is very 
similar to the Task Oriented Menu (TOM) idea.  Hopefully these two 
systems will interact harmoniously rather than duplicating one another.

Soooo... as you implement this functionality, please send prototypes to 
the list to review usability - I'm specifically thinking of things like 
when messages windows are visible, whether they get focus, etc.  If I 
want to read a particular tutorial message again, am I guaranteed that I 
can do it?

>It's better to get a good framework first: this will save time later...
>  
>
These may be beyond the scope of current work, but do consider the 
following extensions as you design the framework:
    1) Allowing users to make notes on help.  People like to make notes 
on things they've learned (paraphrasing and writing in their own words 
helps them retain the idea), and if these could be sensibly stored, 
people could go back and look at what they wrote.
    2) What you're talking about amounts to a list of actions in KDE 
apps.  If KDE had a searchable log of user actions and the times they 
were taken, then you could tie these actions to modification times of 
documents and emails.  Extend KFind to read documents through Kparts, 
add functionality to find "related documents" (in this case they are 
related by time), and voila, document-oriented filesystem - i.e.,  "find 
me all the documents I was working on at the same time as this one"...

Sounds like a great plan.

Cheers,

Eric

_______________________________________________
kde-usability mailing list
kde-usability@mail.kde.org
http://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-usability
[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]