Re: To answer your question about the upcoming Style-Guide...

["Dan Kaminsky" <effugas best com>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Russell Nelson <nelson@crynwr.com>
To: gnome-gui-list@gnome.org <gnome-gui-list@gnome.org>
Date: Friday, July 24, 1998 6:20 AM
Subject: Re: To answer your question about the upcoming Style-Guide...


>Preben Randhol writes:
> > How would you explain to a person that he cannot insert two spaces in
> > a row in LyX ?
>
>When they try to do it, LyX plays back an audio file explaining why it
>won't have the effect they expect.  If they correct it while the audio
>file is playing, immediately cease the playback.
>
>Is that a pain to do?  Yes.
>
>Does it require expenditure of resources?  Yes.
>
>Does that matter, if it's the best way to help the user?  No.
>
>How do we know it's the best way?  Testing, and more testing.
>
>Do our opinions matter?  No.  Only testing matters.
>
>Should we shut up with our opinions, then?  Yes.


There's something called educated guesses.

Do users hate something interrupting their thoughts and blabbing at them?
OH YES.  We see how much users hate the Office Assistant.

What *might* work for LyX is, if you try to hit space twice, a "relevant
help-file" box on the titlebar lights up and starts "cooling down", reaching
original cold after ten seconds.  Click it, and it directs you to a specific
screenplay that shows you how to specify there should be an additional
distance between two letters, or how to make an indented list, or whatever.
Hyperlinked screenplays--works for me :-)