'Re: [KDE Usability] Users cannot find where to "safely remove" USB'

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List: kde-usability
Subject: Re: [KDE Usability] Users cannot find where to "safely remove" USB
From: Diego Moya <turingt () gmail ! com>
Date: 2010-04-06 9:38:47
Message-ID: m2l11ee04941004060238pa871ee3q47cc7bd1dbceba8c () mail ! gmail ! com
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On 6 April 2010 09:52, yahoo-pier_andreit wrote:

> > But then again, I would also assume that the user has to mouse over the
> > device anyways to see what actions he wants to do with it (even if it
> > were right clicking).
>
> yes but nothing happen by keyboard, and also why you has to mouse over
> to make the icon appear? it isn't space saving cause the space is the
> same, are there other reasons?
>

The visual repetition of the same icon can produce a heavy, noisy look.
That's the usual rationale for hiding secondary buttons and show them only
on mouse-over. It shouldn't be used for primary actions, though, because it
makes those buttons harder to discover (the "hover to find hidden actions"
seems to be a medium to advanced ability that naive users don't master).

In this case we have two difficulties against discovering this function:
- the button is icon-only, without a text label.
- the button is hidden by default.

Changing one of them would help discoverability. Changing both would help
even more. This is how I would design it, trying to solve those difficulties
while avoiding the "visual clutter" as much as possible:

- The default state for each device shows the icon in low contrast, without
label. It should be still possible to distinguish this low-contrast from the
disabled state.
- The mouse-over (or stylus-over) state *on the whole device* changes the
icon to high contrast and shows the Eject label.

This way the transition animation helps bringing attention to the button,
and the repetition of the icon among the several devices is subtle.

2010/4/6 Dotan Cohen
> Attached is a quick mockup of what the dialogue could look like with
> the Eject text. On the left is the current Device Manager, on the
> right is the mockup. It can be seen that this mockup can easy handle
> long text with no clutter, and it will eliminate the need for the
> context menu.
>
>
> What do the list members think?
>

I like the design, it has better left alignment. But it would give too much
noise if repeated as-is for all connected devices. I would use the icon in
the left image by default and show the icon+box+label on the right for the
mouse-over effect.

[Attachment #5 (text/html)]

<div class="gmail_quote">On 6 April 2010 09:52, yahoo-pier_andreit <span \
dir="ltr"></span>wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt \
0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">

&gt; But then again, I would also assume that the user has to mouse over the <div \
class="im"> &gt; device anyways to see what actions he wants to do with it (even if \
it &gt; were right clicking). 
 
</div>yes but nothing happen by keyboard, and also why you has to mouse over 
to make the icon appear? it isn&#39;t space saving cause the space is the 
same, are there other reasons? </blockquote></div> The visual repetition of the \
same icon can produce a heavy, noisy look. That&#39;s the usual rationale for hiding \
secondary buttons and show them only on mouse-over. It shouldn&#39;t be used for \
primary actions, though, because it makes those buttons harder to discover (the \
&quot;hover to find hidden actions&quot; seems to be a medium to advanced ability \
that naive users don&#39;t master).

In this case we have two difficulties against discovering this function: - the \
button is icon-only, without a text label. - the button is hidden by \
default. Changing one of them would help discoverability. Changing both would \
help even more. This is how I would design it, trying to solve those difficulties \
while avoiding the &quot;visual clutter&quot; as much as possible:

- The default state for each device shows the icon in low contrast, without \
label. It should be still possible to distinguish this low-contrast from the disabled \
state. - The mouse-over (or stylus-over) state *on the whole device* changes the \
icon to high contrast and shows the Eject label.

<br>This way the transition animation helps bringing attention to the button, and the \
repetition of the icon among the several devices is subtle.<br><br><blockquote \
style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); \
padding-left: 1ex;" class="gmail_quote">

2010/4/6 Dotan Cohen Attached is a quick mockup of what the dialogue 
could look like with 
the Eject text. On the left is the current Device Manager, on the 
right is the mockup. It can be seen that this mockup can easy handle 
long text with no clutter, and it will eliminate the need for the 
context menu. 
What do the list members think? </blockquote>

I like the design, it has better left alignment. But it would give too much noise \
if repeated as-is for all connected devices. I would use the icon in the left image \
by default and show the icon+box+label on the right for the mouse-over effect.

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