GNOME Usability Meeting minutes (July 31, 2001)

[Seth Nickell <snickell stanford edu>]

Minutes of the GNOME Usability Team Meeting (July 31, 2001)

Present:
=========
   Seth Nickell          seth, (chairing) <snickell stanford edu>
   Kenny Graunke         Dekar, (minutes) <kenny whitecape org>
   Matthew Thomas        mpt, <mpt mozilla org uk>
   Adam Elman            adam, <aelman users sourceforge net>
   Bill Haneman          billh, <bill haneman sun com>
   Christian Rose        menthos, <menthos menthos com>
   Colin Z. Robertson    colin_zr, <c z robertson ndirect co uk>
   Dave Engen            dave, <david engen sun com>
   Calum Benson          calum, <calum benson sun com>
   Glynn Foster          Gman, <glynn foster sun com>
   Suzanna Smith         suz, <suzanna smith sun com>
   JP Schnapper-Casteras jpsc
   Matthew Butterick     matthewb
   Havoc Pennington      hp, <hp redhat com>
   Kevin Vandersloot     kevinv
   Paul Joseph Thompson  captbunzo <captbunzo squirrelmail org> 
                           (joined 11:13)
   Jim Cape              Jimbob, <jamescape jcinteractive com>
                           (joined 11:15)
   Maciej Stachowoiak    mjs, (joined 11:15, left -> lunch at 12:15)
   Gregory Merchan       auspex, (returned from lurking at 11:26)
   Ryan Collier          pseudo, (joined 11:53)
   Andrea Mankoski       andi, <andi eng sun com>
   Jonathan Blandford    jrb, <jrb redhat com>
   Jon Tollefson         kniht
   John Erling Blad      vacumhead, <itjoblad aftenposten no>
   Jody Goldberg         jody, <jgoldberg home com>
   Ian McKellar          yakk, <yakk yakk net>
   Alex L.               alex, <alexl redhat com>

Regrets:
========
   Thomas Cherryhomes    TSCHAK, <thomasc apogeemm com>
   Enrico Zini           <zinie cs unibo it>
   John Fleck            <jfleck inkstain net>

Decisions:
==========
 - Style Guide renamed the "GNOME Human Interface Guidelines"
 - Core HIG Team Composition:
   - Gregory Merchan [auspex]
   - Colin Z. Robertson [colin_zr]
   - Calum Benson [calum]
   - Adam Elman [adam]
 - HIG Team will produce a short (~10pgs) version of the guidelines 
   for GNOME2 and possibly a checklist.
 - Panel menu needs to be reorganized for GNOME2
 - Use bugzilla for keeping usability bugs

Action Items:
==============

  - Draft a GNOME2 "must-fix" list for usability issues (nils, seth)
  - Decide on a team organization / leader for the HIG (HIG team)
  - Choose a deadline for a GNOME2 mini-hig draft (HIG team)
  - Organize another meeting and choose a date/time (seth)
  - File usability bugs in GNOME bugzilla for GNOME2 (everyone)

Discussion:
===========

 - GNOME 2.0:
   Do we want to produce something for the GNOME 2.0 release? Could we 
   finish a basic style-guide for GNOME 2? Would this tie us to 
   ill-chosen conventions in the future?

   The consensus is that we need to produce some Human Interface 
   Guidelines for GNOME 2.0. However, it is unlikely we can produce a 
   complete set of guidelines for the 2.0 timeframe, so we will 
   concentrate on simple things such as key navigation, menu items, 
   dialog orders, etc. The shorter guide in the GNOME 2.0 timeframe, 
   will be about 10 pages, and will probably be accompanied by a 
   ~50 item checklist for application developers.

   We decided to use the name "GNOME Human Interface Guidelines", as it 
   carries more weight than "GNOME Style Guide", and reminds people that
   they are designing interfaces for humans. The HIG team will try to 
   stick to no-brainer issues that aren't very controversial for GNOME2.



 - HIG Team
   It was decided that about 3 people should be the core 
   organizers/editors, and about 7 on the team total, contributing 
   sections, and so on.

   Composition:

   Core Team:
   * Adam Elman [adam]
   * Colin Z. Robertson [colin_zr]
   * Gregory Merchan [auspex]
   * Calum Benson [calum]

   People who have worked on previous HIGs:
   * Andrea Mankoski [andi]
   * Suzanna Smith [suz]
   * Calum Benson [calum]
   * Nils Peterson [nils]
   * Dave Engen [dave] - reviewed parts

   Reviewers, not on the core team:
   * Kenny Graunke [Dekar]
   * Maciej Stachowiak [mjs]


 - Checklists
   Checklist would be an appendix to the HIG, expanding as the HIG 
   expands. Checklist is in the GNOME 2.0 timeframe. Perhaps 50 items
   or so, unsure on amount. Shorthand for developers - describes the 
   requirements quickly.

   Sample item:
   [x] Follow standard terminology as described in the GDP Docs 
       Styleguide (i.e. Exit vs. Quit, HIG/Checklist defines.)

   Existing checklists:
     CDE:
http://www.cs.arizona.edu/computer.help/policy/DIGITAL_unix/CDEcklst/cdecklst_17.html#HEADING193
     Aqua: (Aqua HIG, page 213)


 - GNOME 2.0 must-fix list will be drafted up by
   - Nils Peterson [nils]
   - Seth Nickell [seth]
   - (Suzanna Smith [suz]) ?

 - Handling GNOME2 bugs was briefly discussed
   Consensus seems to be to use Bugzilla.

   Maciej notes that its better to use bug titles that describe the 
   problem rather than the suggested solution, as this helps increase
   focus on usability problems rather than just hacking.

   Question of whether we need a special usability keyword or section 
   went unresolved.

 - Discussion of who to target for GNOME2 usability fixes
   Loose consensus initially reached to dispatch bugs that cause the 
   worst usability headaches for everyone (for example, the panel menu 
   organization).

   Some division over how much to target hackers/advanced users. Term 
   "advanced user" was somewhat in contention, but the question was 
   eventually clarified to mean "How much do we target hackers and 
   sysadmins, or other users willing to deal with *nix dirt?"

   Concerns from menthos that usability for hackers will occasionally 
   diverge from general usability, for example in the use of technical 
   jargon. Disagreement from Seth, who feels that in general changes we
   make towards a more usable desktop for hackers will have a positive
   effect on the mythical average user.

   Concensus reached to deal with bugs that are of especially of 
   annoyance to hackers, but in a way that does not infringe on other 
   users. (demonstrate that usability isn't just about dumbing the 
   interface down, that it helps everyone)


 - Future plans section was briefly discussed, but the meeting had 
   begun to wind down

   Havoc feels that a complete rewrite is unlikely of the desktop, but 
   individual pieces can be changed as they are rewritten. General 
   consensus.

   It would be useful to have a vision for the GNOME interface so 
   as the individual pieces come up for rewrite, such can be done in a
   way that contributes to the general goal.

   To be dealt with in a future meeting.

 - Next Meeting Time
   Lots of disagreement over when is convenient. Weekends work better 
   for many people, but not for Sun folks. Need to find times that 
   conflict less with .au and .nz folk's sleep schedules.
  
   No consensus reached, Seth will choose the next meeting time and
   announce it on usability gnome org