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List: kde-usability
Subject: Re: Proposal for KDE 4
From: Zak Jensen <coolguyzak () gmail ! com>
Date: 2005-09-23 18:18:24
Message-ID: 21bb44f305092311184fe5f9d3 () mail ! gmail ! com
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Glad to know you took my advice about looking further around those boards. =
I
don't presently have the time to consider your idea, but I'll get back to
you in the future
-Zak Jensen
On 9/23/05, fourhead <fourhead@geekspot.de> wrote:
>
> First, let me say hello to everybody, I'm new here, I have many ideas, an=
d
> since it's my job to set up computers for absolutely non-technical people=
,
> I
> think I can tell a lot of the problems people have that are new to
> computers :-)
>
> Today I found a very interesting mockup of how KDE 4 could look:
>
>
> http://kde-artists.org/main/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,48/expv,0/top=
ic,417.0
>
> I think this mockup has some very interesting ideas that should be
> considered.
> It basically shows a document- or task-oriented design, instead of a
> application-oriented design. In the top left, you have a few menus that
> give
> you direct access to most common functions. "Create" lets you create text
> documents, presentations, burn CDs etc. "Communicate" gives you quick
> access
> to all your friends and to the internet. "Configure" gives you quick
> access
> to the most common sysem config options.
>
> The idea is kind of radical, but I think it's worth it. Non-technical
> people
> that sit in front of a computer don't want to work with programs, they
> want
> to get their work done. They don't want to use KOffice, they want to
> create
> an text document. They don't want to open K3b (what does that mean
> actually?), they want to burn a CD.
>
> An interface similar to this mockup would give you the ability to
> concentrate
> of what you actually want to do. If you want to write an email to a
> friend,
> you don't have to care about your mail program, remember your friend's
> mail
> address etc., you just click "Communicate->Contacts->Mary->Send mail".
> Thats
> quick and intuitive.
>
> I came up with a few more ideas that I've also posted in the threaded
> linked
> above. I would get rid of the "Configure" button and instead add a button
> "Computer" and a button "Media". The computer buttons has these entries
> (propably a few more):
>
> - Browse files
> - Log off
> - Shutdown
> - Hibernate
> - Configure
> - Lock screen
>
> Well, I think you get the point. A menu "Media" could contain entries
> like:
>
> - Watch a movie
> - View photos
> - Listen to music
> - Listen to webradio
>
> ... and stuff like that. Now, what do these link actually do (in the Medi=
a
> menu)? Well, I was thinking about a file browser to be something like an
> "universal file open dialog". Look at the file browser in the mockup: It
> combines concepts of Konqueror and desktop search apps like Beagle. Now
> when
> you click "Media->Watch a movie" this file browser could pop up, being
> auto-configured to show you only video files, and your DVD drive if a DVD
> is
> inserted. I mean, thas what you want, you want to watch a movie, so the
> computer presents you a list of all movies on your computer. Of course
> this
> list should be well organized, like showing recently used movies first,
> ordering by some criteria etc.
>
> Today, if I want to watch a movie, I have to either open Konqueror, brows=
e
> trough all my directories until I'm in my video directory, find the one I
> want to look at and click it. Or I open a video application, click "Open
> file" and do the same searching. I think the approach shown in this mocku=
p
> would be much more intuitive and useful.
>
> So, this top-left menu should be only for the most common tasks. The
> "Contacts" menu for example could show you only the 20 most frequently
> used
> contacts, the "Read mail" menu could just display new messages etc. If yo=
u
> want to see ALL yourcontacts, you can click on "Contact book" and you'll
> see
> them, reorganize them etc. But the most common tasks - actually contactin=
g
> your contact, or perhaps update his telephone number, you can do right on
> the
> desktop.
>
> Now about this file browser. Well, actually, it's about apps in general. =
I
> think most KDE apps today are just too bloated, too cluttered and too
> overwhelming when you look at them. Honestly, it's sometimes not fun to
> look
> at them, and with each KDE workstation I set up I first spend a few hours
> removing all this unecessary stuff that 90% of all users will never use. =
A
> default installation of Showimg for example has 26!!! toolbar buttons! I
> immideately removed it, this was just too much to look at. I tried to jus=
t
> quickly look at a photo fullscreen, and you first have to go trough this
> mile-long toolbar to find the "fullscreen" button. It's somewhere in the
> middle, it's the 18th button actually. Am I the only one using the
> fullscreen
> button so often? Should't this be on the very left, large and bright, eas=
y
> to
> recognize and easy to find?
>
> Well, I hope I don't sound like ranting, but I love KDE and I want it to
> be
> the easiest, cleanest, smoothest, straight-forwardest and user-friendlies=
t
> desktop on the world, and think KDE needs some work to achieve this.
>
> I'm looking forward to your comments!
>
>
> Tom
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> kde-usability mailing list
> kde-usability@kde.org
> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-usability
>
>
>
>
[Attachment #5 (text/html)]
<div>Glad to know you took my advice about looking further around those boards. I don't \
presently have the time to consider your idea, but I'll get back to you in the future</div> \
<div> </div> <div>-Zak Jensen<br><br> </div>
<div><span class="gmail_quote">On 9/23/05, <b class="gmail_sendername">fourhead</b> <<a \
href="mailto:fourhead@geekspot.de">fourhead@geekspot.de</a>> wrote:</span> <blockquote \
class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px \
solid">First, let me say hello to everybody, I'm new here, I have many ideas, and<br>since it's \
my job to set up computers for absolutely non-technical people, I <br>think I can tell a lot of \
the problems people have that are new to<br>computers :-)<br><br>Today I found a very \
interesting mockup of how KDE 4 could look:<br><br><a \
href="http://kde-artists.org/main/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,48/expv,0/topic,417.0"> \
http://kde-artists.org/main/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,48/expv,0/topic,417.0</a><br><br>I \
think this mockup has some very interesting ideas that should be considered.<br>It basically \
shows a document- or task-oriented design, instead of a <br>application-oriented design. In the \
top left, you have a few menus that give<br>you direct access to most common functions. \
"Create" lets you create text<br>documents, presentations, burn CDs etc. \
"Communicate" gives you quick access <br>to all your friends and to the internet. \
"Configure" gives you quick access<br>to the most common sysem config \
options.<br><br>The idea is kind of radical, but I think it's worth it. Non-technical \
people<br> that sit in front of a computer don't want to work with programs, they want<br>to \
get their work done. They don't want to use KOffice, they want to create<br>an text document. \
They don't want to open K3b (what does that mean <br>actually?), they want to burn a \
CD.<br><br>An interface similar to this mockup would give you the ability to concentrate<br>of \
what you actually want to do. If you want to write an email to a friend,<br>you don't have to \
care about your mail program, remember your friend's mail <br>address etc., you just click \
"Communicate->Contacts->Mary->Send mail". Thats<br>quick and \
intuitive.<br><br>I came up with a few more ideas that I've also posted in the threaded \
linked<br>above. I would get rid of the "Configure" button and instead add a button \
<br>"Computer" and a button "Media". The computer buttons has these \
entries<br>(propably a few more):<br><br>- Browse files<br>- Log off<br>- Shutdown<br>- \
Hibernate<br>- Configure<br>- Lock screen<br> <br>Well, I think you get the point. A menu \
"Media" could contain entries like:<br><br>- Watch a movie<br>- View photos<br>- \
Listen to music<br>- Listen to webradio<br><br>... and stuff like that. Now, what do these link \
actually do (in the Media <br>menu)? Well, I was thinking about a file browser to be something \
like an<br>"universal file open dialog". Look at the file browser in the mockup: \
It<br>combines concepts of Konqueror and desktop search apps like Beagle. Now when <br>you \
click "Media->Watch a movie" this file browser could pop up, \
being<br>auto-configured to show you only video files, and your DVD drive if a DVD \
is<br>inserted. I mean, thas what you want, you want to watch a movie, so the <br>computer \
presents you a list of all movies on your computer. Of course this<br>list should be well \
organized, like showing recently used movies first,<br>ordering by some criteria \
etc.<br><br>Today, if I want to watch a movie, I have to either open Konqueror, browse \
<br>trough all my directories until I'm in my video directory, find the one I<br>want to look \
at and click it. Or I open a video application, click "Open<br>file" and do the same \
searching. I think the approach shown in this mockup <br>would be much more intuitive and \
useful.<br><br>So, this top-left menu should be only for the most common tasks. \
The<br>"Contacts" menu for example could show you only the 20 most frequently \
used<br>contacts, the "Read mail" menu could just display new messages etc. If you \
<br>want to see ALL yourcontacts, you can click on "Contact book" and you'll \
see<br>them, reorganize them etc. But the most common tasks - actually contacting<br>your \
contact, or perhaps update his telephone number, you can do right on the \
<br>desktop.<br><br>Now about this file browser. Well, actually, it's about apps in general. \
I<br>think most KDE apps today are just too bloated, too cluttered and too<br>overwhelming when \
you look at them. Honestly, it's sometimes not fun to look <br>at them, and with each KDE \
workstation I set up I first spend a few hours<br>removing all this unecessary stuff that 90% \
of all users will never use. A<br>default installation of Showimg for example has 26!!! toolbar \
buttons! I <br>immideately removed it, this was just too much to look at. I tried to \
just<br>quickly look at a photo fullscreen, and you first have to go trough this<br>mile-long \
toolbar to find the "fullscreen" button. It's somewhere in the <br>middle, it's the \
18th button actually. Am I the only one using the fullscreen<br>button so often? Should't this \
be on the very left, large and bright, easy to<br>recognize and easy to find?<br><br>Well, I \
hope I don't sound like ranting, but I love KDE and I want it to be <br>the easiest, cleanest, \
smoothest, straight-forwardest and user-friendliest<br>desktop on the world, \
and think KDE needs some work to achieve this.<br><br>I'm looking forward to your \
comments!<br><br><br>Tom<br><br><br> \
_______________________________________________<br>kde-usability mailing list<br><a \
href="mailto:kde-usability@kde.org">kde-usability@kde.org</a><br><a \
href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-usability">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-usability
</a><br><br><br><br></blockquote></div><br>
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