[Gimp-user] Gimp for casual users

[Andreas <bikebot googlemail com>]

I am assuming that Gimp is not only targeted to power users but also to casual users. Do we have any evidence how well casual users can deal with the Gimp GUI?

Gimp has come a long way but when I look at the interface, I can still identify numerous issues that appear to go against GUI best practices and make the learning curve steeper than it should be. (I am not talking about the save/export issue ;-)).  I am talking of principles of simplicity, affordability, WYSIWYG, modes, consistency, etc.

For example the concept of selection in Gimp is highly complex. I doubt that beginners can quickly make sense of the many different selection types. But this is of course an empirical question.

(I have read about the good work of Peter Sikking and team at m+mi works.)

I would be interested to start some work on analyzing the existing GUI and designing possible improvements.

Any comments?

Andreas