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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: General KDE Usability
From:       William Leese <william () leese ! nl>
Date:       2004-07-13 20:12:47
Message-ID: 40F4423F.7070903 () leese ! nl
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Alexander Neundorf wrote:
> On Tuesday 13 July 2004 21:31, kde-usability-request@kde.org wrote:
> 
>>>What do others think about this ?
>>>Currently there is the web browser profile and the file management
>>>profile on kicker.
>>>Now I also think having the "select your konqy profile"-button on kicker
>>>would be a good idea.
>>>This would make three buttons for konqy.
>>>I'm not sure if one of the two default buttons could/should be removed.
>>>But I'm quite sure not many people will find the new button if we don't
>>>put it on kicker by default.
>>
>>This sounds like popup advertising on the web. "Just throw as many
>>features at the user as we can! He's bound to click something!".
> 
> Ok, so this really doesn't get me any further.
> Konqy has profiles, they are cool, but hard to find. 

Ok. So we have a cool feature. Now let's think about a good way to 
integrate this into the existing environment, instead of a 'slap on' 
approach. Will a user change his view profile often? Probably not, not 
without knowing it anyway. There's are these "Personal Files" and "Web 
Browser" buttons on Kicker, which do exactly as advertised (one click 
access to what the user needs, can't get any better than that). Do view 
profiles provide the user something that shouldn't already be accessed 
using these two links? Not really, it's just a different view on the 
same thing. In other words adding a new button would be redundant.

While technically it's a great feature, but where's the 'market'?

I guess the market is for people who actively look for a better way to 
do their work. People who are willing to spend some time to learn the 
tool they use to get the most out of it. In other words "power users". 
Thankfully, because these users tend to take a good look at all the 
available options, you don't have to bring your cool features all the 
way to the forefront in catch their attention.

>>So how to best serve the user?
>>
>>1. Provide easy access to the web.
>>2. Make web browsing as pleasant as possible.
> 
> You miss: "3. Provide easy access to his home dir"
> 

Wait, wait, wait! One thing at a time. User has one click access to 
Internet using the Kicker button. User has one click access to his 
personal files using the Kicker button. These are two different cases. 
The fact that konqueror is doing it all behind the scenes is great, but 
not important to the task the user wants to acheive.

>>How do we do at the moment?
>>1. There's a "Web Browser" link on Kicker. With one click you have
>>access to the web. Without doing anything unconventional, this is
>>probably the best we can do. So: *check*
> 
> Among the other profiles is e.g. a "SimpleBrowser" profile, which makes 
> accessing the web maybe even simpler.

Prove it's better than the default Web Browser profile and make 
SimpleBrowser the new default.

>>2. Good defaults is a must ofcourse. We just need to find out what
>>'good' really is. Or perhaps the current defaults can't be improved on.
>>
>>Anyway, I'm trying to say the same thing as before: give the user single
>>click access to what he wants - that's the best you can do. Don't try to
>>make the user jump through any hoops even if you think it's for his own
>>good.
> 
> Yes. Point is: "what he wants". We don't know. I'd say he wants different 
> things at different occasions.
> I have konqy profile "Devel" with some tabs I need for development and a 
> profile "Info" with some news pages in tabs. I'm sure many users could make 
> good use of such profiles. So let's give them easy access to these profiles. 

It's in the menu bar, under the first menu item people look when they 
want more out of their application: Settings.

   -- William
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