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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: Single vs Multi Window KControl
From:       David Legg <david () actuaria ! co ! uk>
Date:       2004-08-30 23:30:44
Message-ID: 200408310030.50982.david () actuaria ! co ! uk
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On Mon, 30 Aug 2004 21:45:48, Charles de Miramon wrote:
> Before badmouthing other people ideas, maybe you should read
> http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnwui/html
>/iuiguidelines.asp

I don't know about anyone else, but the words 'make search the primary 
interface' were pretty clear to me, and this is definitely *not* what is 
being described here, nor does the screenshot shown earlier reflect what is 
written in this document. If you think it does, you've totally misunderstood.

This is not what Microsoft is trying to do, and this is not what this document 
outlines at all. Trust me, it doesn't describe anything particularly special. 
It essentially describes the single-window, spatial type thinking we've all 
heard of to varying degrees - one window, one task, and so on and so forth. 
As far as KControl goes, it can't be done exactly like this, but it will 
probably be a variation on the theme, intelligently using some (but not 
necessarily all) of these ideas.

> Microsoft spent a lot of money, and research money in Inductive User
> Interfaces. 

Microsoft have been through these fads before, through MDI, SDI, browsing 
interfaces and the current flavour of the month, the inductive interface :). 
Microsoft used much of this thinking in Windows XP, such as in the user 
accounts configuration screen and wasn't terribly successful. This didn't 
solve the issue of single or multiple windows and dialogues.

Please, take a look at existing interfaces out in the world before telling us 
how much research money Microsoft have poured into this, as if they've struck 
the black stuff.

> The inductive user interface paradigm is IMHO quite suited for an interface
> for tweaking your computer, id est for tasks users perform seldom and where
> help should be pervasive.

You can't simply label something as an inductive interface and implement it 
(if only everything was that simple!). There will always be variations based 
on what it is you are trying to do.

Good web designers have had to think in this way for years, but it becomes a 
difficult balance when you've got a lot of tasks spread over a lot of 
screens. You then come full-circle back to the original problem - how do you 
manage those tasks adequately for the purposes of your application so they 
are manageable for a user? This 'Inductive Interface' isn't Earth shattering, 
nor is it a silver bullet to solve all of our user interface/usability 
bugbears. Again, it comes down to intelligent use of techniques that will not 
necessarily be applied everywhere to every application. That's why I made the 
point about a HIG not being gospel for everything and the dangers of getting 
hung up on assessing each application for 'HIG compliance'.

The original point I made is very simple. You can make searching a very useful 
additional interface, but not the primary one. This is because the user will 
need to have some idea of what they are searching for before they actually 
search for anything. A good system will minimise the need for searching, 
because it will display information that is relevant to the context that the 
user is in and this will probably dynamically change in a consistent way each 
time. This may itself be hooked into a search mechanism, but the user should 
rarely be called upon to physically search for things themselves. That's 
probably what is meant by 'search as a primary interface'. It still isn't a 
good description though.

Cheers,

David
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