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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: Name of Control Center in KDE 4
From:       "Jos Poortvliet" <jospoortvliet () gmail ! com>
Date:       2007-10-09 21:16:46
Message-ID: 5c77e14b0710091416p685f81f1x5e07edc49b86583c () mail ! gmail ! com
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On 10/9/07, James Richard Tyrer <tyrerj@acm.org> wrote:
> Aaron J. Seigo wrote:
> <SNIP>
> > i'm not. i'm suggesting that this is a name that both the novice, the
> > average user and the power user can all deal with.
> >
> OK, I have become a newbie (rather than an EE/CS major that actually
> understood OS/360).  Now, I have a KDE system with user accounts for may
> mythical wife and two children.
>
> I log on and go to "System Settings" and change a few things.  Then my
> mythical wife logs on and is surprised that these changes in the SYSTEM
> haven't taken effect.
>
> So, I login as root and try this again.  This didn't work either.
>
> Actually, it is unfortunate that there currently isn't any way to do
> what I tried to do in this example.  We get questions about it from time
> to time.  But the point is that words have meanings.  We should not
> ignore this when considering usability.  From the point of language, we
> should just call it: "settings" because no adjective is needed, or at
> least no adjective of this type should be used.
>
> We should call it what it is but we need a good name:
>
>         <Adjective> <Noun>
>
>         <Adjective> Settings
>
>         Configuration <Noun>
>
>         <Adjective> Center
>
>         Setting <Noun>
>
>         <Adjective> Manager
>
> {further brainstorming is welcomed by the engineer}
>
> This is (should be) design work.  We first think up multiple ideas and
> try to determine which is best.
>
> What is happening in this (so called) discussion is not design work.
>
> "Control Center" isn't that great, but we need to come up with something
> which is clearly better, not just something which is different.
>
> It would be nice if others would contribute to the brainstorming phase
> of design rather than to irrationally defend what appears to be a poor
> choice.  But, after my private brainstorming session, I suggest:
>
>         Configuration Manager

Well, I'm not entirely opposed to this suggestion, I must say. But I
think the issues you describe with "system settings" are a bit over
the top, you know what I mean? I can hardly imagine confusion would
arise due to the name 'system settings', and somehow that name feels
be

And yes, we make a distinction between user and system stuff, but it's
rather obvious, I think, even to newbies. In most cases, it's pretty
clear you change things which affect things systemwide. Think of
startup settings, hardware config. You won't expect it to not work for
other users. So the confusing part is imho not that bad. I've done
quite a bit usersupport, and often it is only confusing to have two
system settings tools - eg the often distro-provided systemwide tools
and Kcontrol. Integrating that is clearly what users prefer - and I
don't think the name makes a big difference here.

Yet, as a psych I should know acknowledge my preference for system
settings might be purely familiarity with the name.

So, to sum up:
- I don't think the system settings name is a big issue
- yet configuration manager could be a good choice, even though it
sounds a bit scary. I'm a bit ambivalent as to what would be best.

What do I propose? I think we should talk about this after 4.0 is out,
let's say in a month or two, when we have more time.

> I will not irrationally defend this suggestion and I welcome one which
> is actually better.

There is one last point: this comes from Kubuntu, and the maintainers
have a say in the name. Esp with such a minor issue, if they have
strong feelings toward the name - their preference should dictate what
happens. But if they don't really care and think the usability ppl
should figure it out (or, heaven forbid, an e.V. vote) - then we can
discuss this later on, and make a choice.

> --
> JRT
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