'Re: Proposal for KDE 4'

[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

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
[Download RAW message or body]

[Attachment #2 (multipart/alternative)]

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>&nbsp;</div>
<div>-Zak Jensen &nbsp;</div>
<div>On 9/23/05, fourhead &lt;<a \
href="mailto:fourhead@geekspot.de">fourhead@geekspot.de</a>&gt; wrote: <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 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: <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> 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. &quot;Create&quot; lets you create \
text documents, presentations, burn CDs etc. &quot;Communicate&quot; gives you quick access to all \
your friends and to the internet. &quot;Configure&quot; 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 &quot;Communicate-&gt;Contacts-&gt;Mary-&gt;Send mail&quot;. \
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 &quot;Configure&quot; button and instead add a button \
 &quot;Computer&quot; and a button &quot;Media&quot;. 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 &quot;Media&quot; 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 Media menu)? \
Well, I was thinking about a file browser to be something like an &quot;universal file open \
dialog&quot;. Look at the file browser in the mockup: It combines concepts of Konqueror and desktop \
search apps like Beagle. Now when you click &quot;Media-&gt;Watch a movie&quot; 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, browse 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 &quot;Open file&quot; \
and do the same searching. I think the approach shown in this mockup would be much more intuitive and \
useful. So, this top-left menu should be only for the most common tasks. \
The &quot;Contacts&quot; menu for example could show you only the 20 most frequently used contacts, \
the &quot;Read mail&quot; menu could just display new messages etc. If you want to see ALL \
yourcontacts, you can click on &quot;Contact book&quot; and you'll see them, reorganize them etc. But \
the most common tasks - actually contacting 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 just quickly look at a photo fullscreen, and \
you first have to go trough this mile-long toolbar to find the &quot;fullscreen&quot; 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, easy 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-friendliest desktop on the world, \
and&nbsp;&nbsp;think KDE needs some work to achieve this. I'm looking forward to your \
comments! Tom _______________________________________________ kde-usability \
mailing list <a href="mailto:kde-usability@kde.org">kde-usability@kde.org</a> <a \
href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-usability">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-usability
 </a> </blockquote></div>

_______________________________________________
kde-usability mailing list
kde-usability@kde.org
https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-usability

[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 