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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: [KDE Usability] Users cannot find where to "safely remove" USB
From:       Dotan Cohen <dotancohen () gmail ! com>
Date:       2010-04-06 10:56:01
Message-ID: z2x880dece01004060356kcd9ef486tc788cfdf16cc2871 () mail ! gmail ! com
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> 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).
>

Yes!


> 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.
>

Yes!


> 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.

Why low contrast, and why without a label? You stated earlier (and my
tests agree with) the fact that users do not hover to find things.

Also, about being possible to distinguish the low-contrast state from
the disabled state, in my opinion this should work exactly like the
Plasma panel icons work: in rest they are in their normal state and on
hover they are overexposed a little. For consistency's sake I would
expect this behaviour in all KDE SC software, including the Eject
button.


> 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.
>

The problem is that the users are looking exactly for the text "Remove
Safely", "Eject", or something to that effect. The text needs to be
visible in the rest state as well.

How about honouring the global KDE setting for having labels next to
icons? That option does currently exist somewhere in System Settings.
Honouring that option would allow users such as Markus to not clutter
their plasmoids with unnecessary text, yet allow users such who are
not familiar with Apple conventions to quickly find the operation. In
fact, KDE is already asking for user preferences on the issue, it
seems to me foolish not to honour that.


-- 
Dotan Cohen

http://bido.com
http://what-is-what.com
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