Re: [Usability]Galeon 2 usability

[Erik Pukinskis <erik pukinskis uconn edu>]

On Sun, 2002-10-13 at 13:42, Ricardo Fernández Pascual wrote:
>         - menu layout: Many old galeon users like the old menu layout of
>         galeon 1 more than the new layout of galeon 2, which is more
>         simple and tries to follow the HIG. Many options are missing in
>         the new menu.

Keep in mind:

1) It's called the Human Interface *Guidelines* not Human Interface
*Requirements*.  I think in the case of the Settings menu, there are 
good reasons to ignore the guidelines.  The Settings menu is probably
used more than the File menu.

2) I don't think there are any other GNOME apps with multiple menu
layouts.  This would definitely be disorienting to users and difficult
to maintain.  When Galeon 3 comes out are you going to have a third
layout?

>         - preferences: there are many missing preferences in galeon 1
>         when compared with galeon 2. This annoys many users. 

I think Havoc's approach is a good one.  Here's an excerpt from his UI
essay[1]:

*  "Ask questions to find out what's really bugging someone who requests
a preference. What is the annoyance or inefficiency that prompted them
to ask?

* "Can said annoyance be made to go away for all users without requiring
a preference? If so, just do that. You may have to think about the big
picture of the UI to figure out how to make it Just Work.

* "Is the annoyance or inefficiency really significant, or did it cost
them 1 second doing something that users do once per week on average? If
it's just some trivial thing, then the extra feature or preference
probably costs more than it's worth, even if you can't make things Just
Work.

* "Does any other OS have this feature or preference? I'm all for
innovation, but if no one else is doing something, you should think it
through twice to be sure there isn't a reason they aren't doing it. If
you're appropriately humble you'll probably find that a lot of thought
and user testing has gone into the currently popular platforms."

Hope that helps.

Erik

[1] http://www106.pair.com/rhp/free-software-ui.html
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