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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: Defaults: Different backgrounds per virtual desktop?
From:       "Jamethiel Knorth" <jamethknorth () hotmail ! com>
Date:       2004-05-21 4:19:57
Message-ID: BAY7-F83hG4VCYCgmoZ0002fc25 () hotmail ! com
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>From: Matt Rogers <matt@matt.rogers.name>
>Date: Thu, 20 May 2004 22:33:10 -0500
>
>I don't understand you usability people sometimes.  IMVHO, a lot of things
>with regard to usability can be solved by making things more consistent
>(icons on buttons, etc.), but instead, you're proposing that we use four
>different backgrounds for the four default virtual desktops.  How is this
>more consistent?

It's not consistency for the sake of consistency. The goal is to ensure that 
the user always knows what is going on. When things are consistent, it is 
easier to understand them.

However, when a person first switches desktop, there is no good indication 
of what has occurred. A rule which supersedes even consistency is that 
feedback should be provided so that a user can reliably determine what is 
happening on their computer. The purpose is to help users recognize the 
effects of desktop switching.

>I would rather suggest that the virtual desktop feature be disabled by 
>default
>all together.

Removing an option is not necessarily good usability. Usability is as much 
about being easy to use as easy to learn. Less options are easier to learn, 
but less powerful. It's a tradeoff. If a good indicator of the effects of 
desktop switching is available, the ease with which the use of that item can 
be learned has been greatly improved and it is no longer a major issue to 
have it on by default.

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