Re: Usability studies

[Gerald Henriksen <ghenriks gmail com>]

On Thu, 12 May 2011 09:19:54 -0500, you wrote:

>While the article was... interesting... I found a few notable problems 
>and false assumptions in it that disprove it's position:
>
>1. "But the danger of studying too much usability theory is not just the 
>temptation to assume infallibility."
>
>Last I checked, GNOME never only allowed "one way" to use the desktop. 
>Even with GNOME 3, which I admit isn't the most customizable thing in 
>the world (though I don't mind), there's quite a few ways to use your 
>desktop. You could go mouse-only, keyboard-only, keyboard+mouse... You 

While mouse only is possible in Gnome 3, it is horribly inefficient.

>2. "For example, in trying to make the launching of applications easier 
>and freer of error, both eliminated the classic main menu in favor of 
>displays that occupy the entire desktop. This arrangement does improve 
>the launching of applications -- but it does so at the cost of obscuring 
>the windows that are already open and requiring far more clicks and 
>movements away from the active window than the main menu ever did."
>
>GNOME 3 still has an applications menu, as does Unity (I believe, never 
>actually used it much). The problem with that assertion is that GNOME 3 
>makes launching applications, dare I say, *faster*.

Really?  In Windows 7 or Mac OS X all I have to do is click on the
icon at the bottom of the screen in the task bar/dock (and I had Gnome
2 setup similarly).

Gnome 3 I have to open up activies, then open the app.

How is a 2 step process faster than a 1 step process?

>Alt+F2, *and* the traditional menu. Also, I read a post on Planet GNOME 
>a while ago that said how GNOME 2 solved some problems that the GNOME 2 
>applications menu had on low-precision input devices, which can be read 
>here:

Wonderful, except I am not using a low-precision device.

>Has this author even tried to use GNOME 3 for more than 10 (or 30) 
>minutes? I'm sure that if he tried to learn how to use the desktop most 
>efficiently, he would enjoy it at least slightly.

I have, and as one who primarily uses the mouse have found it
unusable.  It seems designed for those who use their keyboards for
everything.