Re: Gnome Shell

[Allan Day <allanpday gmail com>]

Hi Calum!

Calum Benson wrote:
> On 31 Jan 2011, at 17:24, Allan Day wrote:
> > 
> >> 5. In general it just seems like that there is a lot more mouse moving 
> >> and clicking than prior.
> > 
> > I'm surprised to hear you say that, since the shell can be used almost
> > solely from the keyboard.
> 
> Being able to use the keyboard isn't a substitute for ensuring mouse usage is efficient as possible. People who prefer to use the mouse will continue to do so in GNOME 3, and IMHO have reasonable grounds for complaint if they have to do more work the mouse than they used to perform common tasks.

Of course - there's no question that the shell shouldn't be completely
usable using just mouse input.

One question here is what constitutes 'more work'. The message that
began this thread phrased the issue in terms of how far the pointer has
to travel. That is certainly one valid metric, but there are others that
also need to be considered. If you look at application launching, the
shell requires less accuracy in the use of pointing devices than GNOME
2, for instance. In this light, you could probably count the shell as
requiring less 'work', particularly for people using low quality
trackpads or who have limited motor control.

The other question is whether we should be thinking just in terms of
efficiency. The shell's design has always had user experience as its
focus, and this is something which does not always neatly map onto
measures of efficiency.

(This is a largely academic debate, of course. We're two and a half
weeks off UI freeze.)

> Has anyone done a GOMS analysis[1] (or similar) on the key navigation tasks in GNOME 2 v GNOME 3?

I know there are yet to be implemented plans for key navigation in the
shell, particularly in the overview, and I'm sure a lot of thought has
gone into them. Maybe a GOMS analysis could be useful there... I'm sure
you could talk to Jon or Jimmac about it on #gnome-design.

Best,

Allan

-- 
Blog: http://afaikblog.wordpress.com/
IRC: aday on irc.gnome.org