Re: [Gimp-user] HATE the new save vs. export behavior

[Daniel Hauck <daniel yacg com>]

This is a valid point of human behavior on software.  It doesn't matter 
how many warnings software might offer, the user develops habits and 
eventually, for convenience sake, clicks on things very habitually.  
THIS is why malware still gets installed on users' machines despite all 
of the UAC and other protections put into place.  Protections which are 
inconvenient and/or inconsistent will be ignored due to their 
inconvenience and/or inconsistency.

This is precisely why the 8 golden rules of UI design were listed: (see 
link below)

https://mail.gnome.org/archives/gnome-gui-list/1998-November/msg00074.html

The first rule is consistency.  And it doesn't just mean within the 
application, but consistency with the environment.  The fifth rule, 
offer error prevention, is way down there for a reason I should think.

That said, I have noticed GiMP does at least remember your previous 
export action which enables a person to quickly update what they are 
exporting as they work.  This is a handy improvement which demonstrates 
that the developers have recognized the "export" function as a bit of a 
stumbling block to a smooth workflow and they are attempting to reduce 
it some.

(Yes, I broke my own rule about commenting on this particular topic... I 
just couldn't hold back, because user behavior is a particularly 
important topic to me in that as a support person, I am faced with the 
fact that users do what they will no matter how many or what types of 
warnings and limits and controls you put into place.  User problems 
start and end with the user.  Their drive to do things they think they 
want to do over-rides what they should or shouldn't do every time.  
Writing software to attempt to counter human user behavior is, in the 
end, completely futile and even hazardous to attempt.  People are 
'thoughtless' by nature. Habits are killers.  But it is our nature to be 
this way.  We may as well embrace it rather than fight it.  This is 
precisely why the 8 golden rules were written as they were.)


On 07/18/2013 05:06 PM, mrule wrote:
> I agree.
>
> There are a lot of good arguments for the new save functionality on this thread,
> and I respect that some users may want the new functionality. However, I am a
> long-time user of Gimp and I do not want this change.
>
> For me, the  "new save" functionality is more hazardous than the "old save"
> functionality:
>
> I was using the new Gimp today for editing single-layer PNG files. In this use
> case, there is no data loss since I am saving a single layer in a lossless
> format. The main problem is that, even after exporting, Gimp will ask if you
> want to save on exit. Since this dialogue appears regardless of whether I have
> exported my work, it is uninformative, and I have to click to close it every
> time. This creates a hazard because, when I actually do forget to export my work
> to PNG, I don't get any useful notice when I exit Gimp, and I lose my changes.
> For now, I will be using an older version of Gimp that is safer for my use-case.
>
> I would prefer the "old save" format and add a warning ( that is easily closed
> with a keystroke or two ) if the save operation will cause loss of data. This
> will result in less loss of work on average.