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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Openusability about Kmail 1.7
From:       Marco Gusy <picander78 () yahoo ! it>
Date:       2006-10-11 9:09:56
Message-ID: 200610111109.57011.picander78 () yahoo ! it
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Hi, I subscribed to this list to hear your opinion after the changes made to 
kmail after the openusability report:
http://www.openusability.org/reports/get_file.php?group_id=55&repid=43#search=%22kmail%20openusability%20%22mailing%20list%22%22 \


if the link does not work try to search on google "Suggestions KMail 1.7 
Folder Properties" with quotes.

I don't agree with what they say in many points:

"2.1 Amount of settings - The first step is to reduce the amount of settings 
that a "normal" user is confronted with in the properties dialog. Issues that 
either require deep technical insight or that is relevant only in 1% of cases 
should be kept "out of sight", but still accessible, or put to another place. 
Reducing (required) information to the relevant makes the user feel safer 
that he/she can control his /her actions (because he/she only must set what 
he/she understands)."

I don't know if this is a new usability trend, but I think that's generally a 
bad idea. Usability, in my opinion, is not "try to hide advanced settings", 
but "put the features where someone seek them first". So break a "folder 
properties" in pieces and scatter them around the U.I. doesn't make sense to 
me.

"Mailing List - The handling of mailing lists is a feature that perhaps 1% of 
users expect."
I think many kde users are subscribed to at least one mailing list (i use 
kmail with 8 mailing lists), why should this nice feature treated as "too 
much uncommon to see?". I know it's a feature you should use only once, but 
the truth is kmail sometime lose folder settings (it shouldn't), se I have to 
use this feature more than I should. Now it's in the "Folder" menu, where 
there were only visualization settings (expand, collapse, threaded view, mark 
as read etc...), and making it heterogeneous (visualization settings + 
properties) -> disorienting.

The expiry proerties, following this phylosophy, should be in folder menu, but 
it isn't. I only have in the popup menu when i rightclick on a folder.


"The properties also was changed in quite a substantial way. One aim was to 
get rid of the tabs, and thus to reduce the amount of informatin."

It's common to have Properties/Settings in tabbed view, why kmail shouldn't?

I'm not an usability expert, and I tried to get used to this interface, but 
after a year ok kmail 1.8 i still browse the menu to find where the 
expiry/mailing list settings are, and that's annoying to me. I would like to 
know what other kmail users think, so I subscribed to this list trying to 
figure out where the ML properties were once again. ;-)

Thanks

Marco
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