Re: System Settings Overview Design

[Bastien Nocera <hadess hadess net>]

On Wed, 2011-10-26 at 16:42 +0200, Rodrigo Moya wrote:
> On mié, 2011-10-26 at 15:11 +0100, Bastien Nocera wrote:
> > On Wed, 2011-10-26 at 12:58 +0100, Allan Day wrote:
> > > On Mon, Oct 24, 2011 at 5:31 PM, Allan Day <allanpday gmail com> wrote:
> > > > On Mon, Oct 24, 2011 at 3:23 PM, Bastien Nocera <hadess hadess net> wrote:
> > > >> On Mon, 2011-10-24 at 12:57 +0100, Allan Day wrote:
> > > > ...
> > > >>> I've also heard it discussed that we're not going to show some
> > > >>> hardware panels if they're not needed, such as the graphics tablet
> > > >>> panel. Can I ask what the plan is there?
> > > >>
> > > >> The plan would be to hide hardware based panels where the hardware isn't
> > > >> readily available. For example, we would hide the Wacom panel if no
> > > >> Wacom tablets were plugged in and none were configured via Bluetooth.
> > > >>
> > > >> We would still show those hidden panels in the search results, as a way
> > > >> of discovering the settings, if needed.
> > > > ...
> > > >
> > > > Thanks for the info. According to my calculations [1], you might end
> > > > up with anywhere between 7 and 13 panels in the hardware section,
> > > > then. Is that right?
> > > >
> > > > The reason I ask is that that kind of variation is difficult to have
> > > > in a fixed grid and still look nice.
> > > 
> > > It's the dynamic content in combination with grouping that's the real
> > > killer for the layout. I've been thinking about this, and I've started
> > > to wonder whether the groups are really that helpful. I know I don't
> > > find them very useful, and I'd be surprised if other people do. They
> > > can also be misleading.
> > 
> > The main goal of the separation is personalisation vs. configuration.
> > 
> > Personal: the only thing you should need to touch
> > Hardware: making bits of hardware work (most would "just work", such as
> > display output, or offer alternative entry points, such as adding
> > bluetooth devices)
> > System: system related stuff that isn't hardware related
> > 
> but does this help users find the stuff they want?

It probably doesn't, but it should. But that's because we're not selling
it well, rather than because the separation isn't useful.