Re: [Nautilus-list] Nautilus user testing at MIT

[Nicolas Mailhot <Nicolas Mailhot email enst fr>]

Le ven, 05 jan 2001 01:12:14, Reinout van Schouwen a écrit :
> Hello Nicholas and others,

Hi,

> First, excuse me for just dropping into this discussion;
> I've recently 
> subscribed to the gnome-gui list and would like to comment
> on this article.

Well, I just dumped it on this list myself:))

> 
> Nicolas Mailhot wrote:
> 
> >> Anyhow, yes, I agree that the UI should remain fully
> >> usable
> >> while the cursor displays the hourglass.
> > 
> > Wich isn't the case ; an hourglass is a difficult
> pointer.
> 
> To me, this sounds like you (or the previous poster) have
> misunderstood 
> the point of an hourglass pointer. Which, IMO, is to give
> a visual cue 
> that the UI is incapable of processing commands (clicks)
> *at the 
> position of the cursor* for as long as the hourglass is
> displayed. 
> Hence, the UI is by definition not usable while the cursor
> displays the 
> hourglass!

This way it may work. However it does make the hourglass a
useless launch indicator, which was my point. 

> I think it also has to do with the fact that web pages
> take 
> exceptionally long to load, compared with the launching of
> an 
> application. What is wrong with the wait cursor above a
> application 
> that's busy, given that the busy-state will last no longer
> than a few seconds?

Nothing except :

* it may be confusing to some users (cursor not in app, app
stuck and no hourglass !)

* unlike throbbers, difficult to see state of all windows at
a glance.

> > 3. embed your throbber in a generic place (title bar,
> task
> > list, dock, splash screen, start monitor-applet,
> whatever)
> 
> - title bar: inconvenient when your app is starting up and
> you don't 
> know the window dimensions yet;

Well, i was thinking about a minimal title bar that expands
into the whole thing after launch. Something like a splash
screen, but a lot less intrusive. Splash mini-bar, perhaps ?

> - task list : Gnome already has something like this, when
> an app is 
> starting you can see its name in the tasklist applet with
> a hourglass icon next to it;

Well, my Gnome certainly hasn't.
 
> - dock : how is a dock different from a task list?

Just trying to make a big list, I think
 
> - splash screen: you really don't want all your apps to
> have a splash screen!

I wholeheartedly agree. Just wanted to be exhaustive.

The discussion was : how to you provide app or even window
state
feedback in a generic and non-intrusive manner ?

You've got :

launching state
busy state
idle state
connecting state (for network apps)
question state (window stuck until a dialog been closed...)

And probably a lot more states which would be interesting to
report quietly.

Cursor forms are the wrong way to go IMHO because they won't
work for more than one window at a time, and focus questions
are sufficiently confusing under X right now without adding
the complexity of « which window controls the cursor form ».

On the other hand, title bars/task list entries are clearly
associated with *one* window all the time, a lot of them can
be consulted simultaneously, so putting the hints there
would be the right thing IMHO.

-- 
Nicolas