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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: powerful tooltips, behaviour dependent and clearer toolbars and
From:       "Aaron J. Seigo" <aseigo () kde ! org>
Date:       2003-11-14 16:12:04
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On Friday 14 November 2003 04:50, solo turn wrote:
> 1. display and easy set (keyboard, speech?) shortcuts, extend tooltip
> --------------
> a button on a toolbar has a tooltip. a menu entry could have a tooltip,
> which is basically a bubble/box opening when the mouse stays on an object.
> this tooltip should contain: - a descriptive text, or other background
>   information (the url behind it, ...)
> - the assigned shortcut
> - help

tooltips are already possible, it just takes someone to write them... there 
are some problems with getting tooltips customized when using XMLUI, IIRC, 
but that's more to do with how its implemented right now that 
impossibilities.

> - "edit shortcut" opens a kde or application specific
>   component for assigning/editing the shortcut

of course, we already have this, just not on a per-item contextual basis.

> it wuold be great if there would be a possibility to go to the tooltip with
> the keyboard and also leave it again via keyboard (esc, timeout, ?)

i don't know if we really have (m)any global keyboard combox left. then 
there's the issue of giving focus via the keyboard to a toolbar items w/out 
selecting it, which would probably be tricky enough to be not so useful and 
probably rather dreadful as far as speed and clarity of action.

> 2. display buttons, menu entries depending on users behaviour
> ----------
> microsoft uses this strategy to simplify menus. menus have to modes:
> "standard" and "extended/full". clicking on a menu opens the standard menu
> with a minimal set of entries, and an arrow icon. staying with the mouse on
> the arrow, or clicking the arrow opens the full menu. choosing a menu entry
> includes it in the standard display the next time. not choosing it for a
> long time removes it again from the standard display.
>
> it would be great if kde could do this for menu entries, and toolbar
> buttons.

this is one of the worst possible ideas. it hides options, makes getting to 
them longer, prevents learning from taking place due to spacial, textual and 
contextual interface changes, etc...

> 3. making gui control elements clearer (buttons, texts), not bigger
> -----------
> to make something clearer, it is not necessary or not always necessary to
> make it bigger (bigger icon, longer text). i think a more precise icon
> (simpler?), a more precise text, and a good tooltip are very helpful.

true. the ballance is that larger targets are much easier to hit. fortunately 
we generally allow the user to make this decision via icon sizes and where 
text appears in toolbars.

> 4. do not distinguish between menu bar, and tool bar
> ---------
> a menu contains text, if you click on that text, a menu opens. a toolbar
> can contain icons with a small arrow, clicking on that opens a menu of
> icons. both have tooltips, both have shortcuts. if you offer display modes
> "text/icon/both" there is no point in makeing that difference. the menu bar
> is just a very important toolbar (i.e. default toolbar), in text mode. this
> would also make it easy possible to place the menu bar, and e.g. the
> navigation bar side by side, and saving one line on the screen (doing
> something useful with the wide gray space on the menu's right side).

i think you'll find that this not only looks absurd with many combinations of 
font and icon sizes, but that this too is poor for usability. menus and 
toolbars are not the same. they do not work the same, they duplicate actions, 
they have different levels of customization, etc. our style guide 
specifically states not to put non-menu items in the menu bar. keep it 
simple, keep it clear.

if you wish to see the opposite of that, check out what Microsoft does with 
many of their applications.

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