Re: Retiring app menus - planning for 3.32.0

[Tristan Van Berkom <tristan vanberkom codethink co uk>]

Been on vacation and amused with this thread...

On Fri, 2018-09-21 at 15:54 +0200, Bastien Nocera wrote:
> On Fri, 2018-09-21 at 14:26 +0100, Allan Day wrote:
> > > > On Fri, 21 Sep 2018 at 12:54, <mcatanzaro gnome org> wrote:
> > >
> > > On Fri, Sep 21, 2018 at 5:36 AM, Bastien Nocera <hadess hadess net>
> > > wrote:
> > > > It's faster to access for users, has terser explanations (no need
> > > > to
> > > > create sentences to describe actions) and it's usually better
> > > > updated
> > > > as it lives in the code, as opposed to being separate in the
> > > > docs.
> > >
> > > It's also larger, well-designed, easier to read and use.
> >
> > But what if the docs were similar...? This is a hypothetical future,
> > not what we have today.
>
> Still takes you out of the application itself.

I would just like to add my 2 cents to this, and basically point out
that having a user manual is by no means an excuse to make primary
features non discoverable in the UI proper.

I consider keyboard shortcuts for a video player to definitely be a
primary feature (at the very least pause, play, fullscreen, next scene,
are things you don't want the user to have to bother with clicking
around on a regular basis).

User manuals are great for the few people who like to read them and get
the hang of the app, or for a fairly complicated app, but if your user
is reaching all the way to the manual because they are unable to figure
out how to perform a basic function, then the user is already
frustrated and the application UI has already failed.

When you buy a DVD player, a TV, a game console, a power drill; you
plug it in, look at the buttons, and expect it to just work. I think
people expect (and deserve) the same out of the basic apps that people
use on a day to day basis.

Cheers,
    -Tristan