UI Rantings [was: Re: gmc and file-selection mockups]

["James M. Cape" <jcape jcinteractive com>]

Justin Ross wrote:
> 
> There's a discussion going on now in the gnome gui list.  I'd appreciate
> it if some of the developers looked at the mockups and proposal at
> 
>   http://www.olywa.net/opiskin/gnomeui
> 
> My impression is that most of us on the gui list are non-coders, so we
> could use coder feedback.  Thanks,
> 
> Justin

IMO, the open/save dialogs are only lacking an icon for filetype, an
easy sort method, and perhaps a carryover of the gnome dialog icons.
Period. It works cleanly and efficiently *right now*. Making Gnome do
all the useless interface crap that Microsoft has seen fit to bloat
their programs with should never be a goal. Ever. And unfortunately for
Microsoft, most of that interface crap comes from Windows' reuse of that
godawful Explorer object.
     Looking over some of the other suggestions, I came accross Double
Right Clicking. Double Right Clicking?!?!?!? New users have a hard
enough time dealing with double left clicking, why complicate the
procedure needlessly. Keyboard shortcuts are the Right Way to do this
     As for the consistency problem, why not store all the keyboard
shortcuts in *one* place. That way, all the Open commands have the same
shortcut, all the New commands have the same shortcut, all the
Properties commands have the same shortcut, etc., etc., etc.

Since I have started using Linux, I am constantly amazed by the general
level of suggestions about the UI of Gnome/X/whatever. In the end, it
amounts to "In Windows 95, I can do this one kewl thing (which violates
quite a few basic UI principles and should never have been included in
the first place). In Gnome/X/whatever, I can't do that, so
Gnome/X/whatever should change." This "solution" is patently wrong.
Gnome is not Windows. Gnome shouldn't try to emmulate Windows. The
reason for this is simple: The Windows UI is a pathetic attempt at
usability.
     Helping Windows users use Linux shouldn't ever be a goal. The goal
should be to create the best and easiest to use User Interface. Windows
users can and will unlearn the tricks they have learned if whatever they
are attempting to switch to is good enough. IMHO, Gnome must be good
enough.
     And on a somewhat lower level, I think that many gnome
suggestion-makers fail to think abstractly about UI problems. One
example was the earlier "Gmc should have an "F5" shortcut to refresh the
window, because you can refresh the Explorer window with that"
suggestion. This is wrong! Gmc should have the ability to refresh a
window, yes, but arbitrarily deciding what keyboard shortcut to use
because Windows happens to use it is dumb, IMO. Think Abstractly! If Gmc
should have the ability to refresh itself, why not with CTRL+R? That
makes sense, and even the menu mnemonic works ok. Who cares if Windows
doesn't use it? In this case, Windows is no more right that Gnome, so
why should Gnome be hamstrung by Windows?



My personal UI Rules:

Keep it simple (visually first, then internally). If it can't be kept
simple, break it up into categories and make them simple or re-do it so
it is simple. "It's too complicated" is not an excuse. Neither is "It's
too hard to program that".

Think Abstractly. Just because something needs to be done doesn't mean
it needs to be done a certain way. Find out what the best way to do it
is, and then do it that way.

A Power User is someone who's computer uses electricity. Power Users
hate it when a feature is there but they don't know about it or can't
understand it. Acommodate them in this feeling (but be sure to follow
Rule #1 in doing so).

Power Users (Rule #3) like to configure things and play around with
their computers. Let them (follow Rule #1).

Three things are important in creating a UI: testing, testing, and more
testing. When testing, make sure that at least some of the testers
haven't touched the system to be tested yet.

Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, do something because it's the
quickest way. Just because you can use reusable objects doesn't mean you
should.



Appologies to whoever first said #3 -- could also be said as "There is
no such thing as a Power User" or "Never use an 'Advanced' tab". The
rest are mine. Feel free to add/change at will.

    Jim Cape
    http://www.jcinteractive.com

    "All animals are equal, some animals
     are more equal than others."
         -- George Orwell, Animal Farm