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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: spotting usability issues @ work?
From:       Maurizio Colucci <seguso.forever () tin ! it>
Date:       2005-02-24 23:37:53
Message-ID: 421E6551.6020900 () tin ! it
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Tom Karasek wrote:
> hi all,
> 
> sometimes i have to hear complains about certain program @ work and mostly, 
> these are usability issues. another example is the following:
> 
> there are two older women (between 47 and 55) who are using outlook and word. 
> (being a sociologst, i know that n=2 is not sufficient to make general 
> statements but i try it anyway...;-) ).
> 
> they are the perfect example for users who just need to work with their 
> computer - they don't want to know, what it does or how it works (and it's 
> their right not to be forced to know it). 
> 
> one of their problems could affect KDE-usability as well because it seems to 
> be general usability issue (well, at least for them): when they use outlook, 
> both sometimes tend to click on one of the columns (see attached pdf) without 
> noticing it. now, i thought it would be obvious that you can click on the 
> columns to sort your emails by date or by sender. however, for them, it is 
> not. even worse, they don't remember the solution i always show them. if i'm 
> around, they scream "help! outlook keeps sorting my emails in a strange 
> way!". if i'm NOT around, they just scroll arround to find their new mails 
> (if they have chosen "sort by sender" by accident). this is tricky, because 
> you can hit the columns two times (sorting upward / downward).
> 
> so i started to think about solutions:
> 
> (a) provide tooltips. this could be easily done. however, since "my" users 
> don't read anything on screen (except their own mails or maybe funstuff), 
> they probably won't notice it. but it's a start.
> 
> (b) label the columns like "click here to...". this can not be done - it would 
> eat up too much space on the screen
> 
> (c) provide buttons ABOVE the columns - could work, but the same problems as 
> in (b)
> 
> (d) provide a "first time" - window. the first time, the user accidently 
> clicks on a column, a window could pop up, informing the user, what he/she 
> changed and how it can be undone. this window would provide a "don't show 
> this again" - checkbox. would work - but maybe this is too "much" for such a 
> small feature?
> 
> (e) make stronger visual clues than now (the small triangle is just too 
> subtle), maybe through some kind of highlighting or by using the status bar. 
> this could introduce other problems usability-wise (e.g. usage of colours can 
> be another usability-issue as we all have seen on the list).
> 
> to sum it up: (b) and (c) and maybe (d) would add more clutter. (a) and (e) 
> could be done quite easily or could even be combined (well, i'm not a coder, 
> so i'm just guessing).
> 
> what do you think about it?
> 
> regards
> 
> tom karasek

Your report was insightful.

IMHO there is one simple solution. Remove the capability to sort by clicking 
the column headers (at least by default). This is necessary. Then, add a 
_big_ button (e.g. on the toolbar), with a _label_ saying "sort messages 
by...". When you click the button, a menu pops up with the available sorting 
modes (by date, etc).

This solutions is more discoverable, space efficient, and it is nearly 
impossible to change the sorting mode by mistake.

Sorting could of course be done via the menu, but the purpose of the button 
is to provide a quicker way.


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