Re: Menus

["Khimenko Victor" <gnome-gui khim sch57 msk ru>]

7-Nov-98 03:31 you wrote:
> On Fri, 6 Nov 1998, Khimenko Victor wrote:
>> > [stuff about menu/toolbar customization, that few users do it]
>> But why ? I'm pretty sure that this is since there are no easy way to spread
>> your customization! Why waste huge amount of time to fine-tune all menus and
>> toolbars if you'll be unable to use this layout next year in next version of
> [snip]

> Good points in this message, but I think a response is warranted:

> I agree to a large degree with what you are saying, but think for a moment
> of the users that you know of who use regular applications (by this I
> intend to mean non-programmer applications).  Now think of how many
> customize them.  Now think of how many would customize them even if they
> could without any negative ramifications.

> It's a weird thing to us programmer/power-user types, I think.  Think of
> it like this: not many car owners customize their cars beyond the initial
> purchase point.  Why?  Because they are not car-junkies.  I don't
> customize vehicles I'm in because it doesn't make any real difference to
> me: the years of development (whether it was trial-and-error or research
> or whateverelse) that went into the layout of the car works just about
> fine for me.  I can get used to it.  I *do* get used to it.

> Customizability is a nice point in many respects, but it is often
> important to consider that many (if not a majority of) users aren't
> interested in customizing their application.  I never customized Word
> because it worked just fine for me: the default layout was pretty well
> done, as far as I could tell.

> Consider this as a point: perhaps only special purpose applications (for
> example, IDEs) should ever have to be modified.  If you take that into
> account when designing your user interface, the importance of
> customizability is reduced (no matter how easy it is to customize).

> (Please don't interpret this as a "customizability is evil" message, but
> rather as a "customizability is not the be-all and end-all of UI"
> warning.)

Good sample. GREAT sample. Since car sample REALLY approve deep customization :-)
Yes, it's right that end-user rarely customize car. But MANUFACTURER produce
A LOT OF specially customized models and submodels (for example for Japan or UK
you'll need wheel on right while for Russia or US you'll need wheel on left;
that is: there are no agreement even for fundamental things after CENTURY of
development). IMO this will be true for software (even more important since
software is by nature more fluidal). That's why we need deepest possible
customizability (via themes usually): not for end-user to play with but for
developer to develop different themes for different user types. If few per cents
of power users (like me :-) will got new toy as result this is not bad but
SIDE result.

P.S. Oh. And as design of cars is usually produced by special firm and not by
car manufacturers itself themes (including menus/toolabrs layout) will not be
produced by application creators but rather by other peoples -- good in UI
understanding but not-so-good in programming... Of course this will be the case
if menus/toolbars will be customizable without "moving of mountains" :-|