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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: Uasability reports for Korganizer and Konsole
From:       "Aaron J. Seigo" <aseigo () mountlinux ! com>
Date:       2001-08-20 1:57:57
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On Friday 17 August 2001 14:33, S A Jarrett-Sprague wrote:
> Hi
>
> I have just put the konsole and Korganizer usability reports on my home
> page.

i just read your konsole usability report. perhaps i could comment on a few 
items in it.

Item #1-1 Konsole or Terminal?: the confusion over whether it is konsole or 
terminal is a misunderstanding over what a terminal is. konsole is a terminal 
eumlator, much like kword is a word processor and konqueror is a web browser 
and file manager. that is why it is named Konsole, though the tool tips and 
icons refer to it as a terminal emulator.

Item #1-2 User Interface: the toolbar at the bottom is there for a very good 
reason IMO: if you use a session for any amount of time and the cursor ends 
up at the bottom of the window, therefore your eyes (and focus) are at the 
bottom of the window more often than not. when i want to see what session i'm 
in or create a new session, i like the fact that that functionality is 
already close to my focus point. so there _is_ good reason for it being 
there. perhaps not to a new user, but a person is only a new user for a while.

as for the triangle by the new icon giving you the impression a menu should 
appear: well, there IS a menu. try keeping your mouse clicked on the button 
for a second and watch what appears.

the naming inconsistencies you observed in the buttons has already been fixed 
in CVS (and i believe 2.2)

i do agree that it would be nice to have a "Close Session" button somewhere 
for new users. i definitely would _NOT_ want it anywhere near the new session 
but in the menus would be nice.

Item #1-3 Menus
The file menu is just fine IMO with the listing of various session options. 
why introduce yet another menu in there? as for the difference between linux 
console and shell that Claes Anderson brought up: there are differences 
between them that will escape a new user but that more experienced users will 
appreciate. removing one just because they seem redundant to a new user would 
be a mistake.

The session menu is IMO fairly self-explanatory except when it comes to the 
Signal sub menu. this should be better docu'd in the handbook for new users 
who have little to no clue about the command line.

Item #1-4
I can't really comment on this as I don't have the docu for konsole 
installed. However, I would be very reticent about comparing konsole to the 
MS command prompt as the two are _extremely_ different. Offering that 
comparison is not only naive, but it cheapens what the Unix command line is. 
Usually once I explain to someone what the Unix CLI is capable of and how it 
basically works (30-60 seconds is all it takes) they understand how it really 
is a very different animal to the MS command prompt. interestingly, my 
experience has been that once they understand this they warm up to the CLI. 
the MS command prompt, being such a useless and annoying thing for many, has 
left a bad taste on many user's palettes. such a comparison also leaves out 
those who do not come from a windows background and tends to create a mental 
association between MS Windows and KDE.


anyways, it is great to see people putting time into these reports and 
bringing up such issues for discussion.

-- 
Aaron Seigo
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