Re: Proposal for default panel layout w/ some modifications to the panel

[Suzanna Smith <suzsmith mpkmail Eng Sun COM>]

Kevin Cullis wrote:
>Sometimes GNOME is SO configurable that it can be confusing at times
>when simple actions are wanted and there are TOO many options. A
>beginner, intermediate, and expert configurations should be considered.

Agreed!!

Hi,

I've been a lurker on this list for a little while now, but its time
to de-lurk and hop in. 

<intro>
I work on the HCI team at Sun, with Calum Benson and Nils Pedersen,
names you are probably familiar with.
</intro>

I am sitting here typing up the last of the usability report from 
the GNOME study we conducted and I have quotes right in front of me 
that support the fact that sometimes GNOME is too configurable (for
end users).

That doesn't mean we have to strip it down so it is no fun for anyone
(or no fun for techy power users). It just means we need to strike a 
compromise, in the form of different user levels or configurations so
we can simultaneously support the power user mindset as well as the
end (novice) user.

Here are some general comments around how difficult it was for users 
to find the simplest of all things, a clock:
- "I didn't know where to go for a clock, I needed hints...there were    
   other things that were clock related that were confusing..."
- "It took a long time to add a clock, it was tough." 
- "There are a lot of menus, a lot to go through."
- "The sheer number of possibilities for where a clock could be          
  surprised me..if I had to do it again I'm not sure I'd know how or
  if I could find clocks again."
- "Some things were accessible that a novice user would not want or      
  need, but other simple things were buried deep...you had to go far in  
  to access something like clocks."
 
Here are some comments from users on the general topic of 
configurability and and options for customization:
- "Customization was tough."
- "There is more control over the appearance than I'm used to."
- "Customizing the desktop is not as intuitive as I would like."
- "Its too much...[some people] would be overwhelmed."
- "I'm frustrated."
- "There's a lot to digest, it could be intimidating."

And one user suggested (when looking at the Control Center) that 
"...some of the information should be condensed down into an advanced 
section."

I realize it is somewhat unfair to throw these quotes out without
all the supporting info about the study, and that this email doesn't 
directly address the panel proposal, but I wanted to inject the voices 
of our future users into this thread. These people were all computer 
savvy, with both Mac and Windows experience, but they were not 
developers.

I hope people will take a look at the report when it is published. 
The plan is to have it completed and pushed at the end of this week 
or early next week, with video clips to follow. I believe the
report will live at: 
http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gup/presentations.html 
If you go there now you can see the slides from Calum Benson's 
GUADEC talk which discussed preliminary findings from the same study.

More to come and cheers,
Suzanna

`°º¤oo¤º°`°º¤oo¤º°`°º¤oo¤º°`°º¤oo¤º°`°º¤oo¤º°`°º¤oo¤º°`°º¤oo¤º°'

                             		s u z a n n a  s m i t h
                         	    v i s u a l  d e s i g n e r         
                       		           sun microsystems, inc 
                                    		     
`°º¤oo¤º°`°º¤oo¤º°`°º¤oo¤º°`°º¤oo¤º°`°º¤oo¤º°`°º¤oo¤º°`°º¤oo¤º°'