[Usability] Re: ui-review of new modules

[Havoc Pennington <hp redhat com>]

On Thu, Jul 03, 2003 at 12:52:05PM -0400, David Adam Bordoley wrote:  
> 
> The problem here is lack of coherent vision and desktop wide model.

If we need to have a coherent vision, then someone needs to document
it in a way people understand, *with rationale*, and then sell the
idea over as long a period of time as it takes.

That's how we've made every other large change in GNOME: some
individual was a strong leader and made it happen. By finding people
on IRC, contributing to mailing lists, writing documents, writing
code, whatever it takes.

That's how change happens. It's how change happens in commercial
companies, it's how change happens in government, and it's how change
happens in volunteer projects.

> FWIW, the best ui for ripping cd's is probably to put an icon on the
> desktop representing the cd, open the cd, dnd the "files" from the
> disk to any folder, popup a simple dialog asking the user in what
> format they would like the songs to be stored in.  [2]

I don't disagree, but see again this has no replicable rationale or
process behind it. How did you arrive at this view; what are the
personas, tasks, research, prior art, and so forth. If I wanted to
argue with you, or understand your point, or learn from your post, how
would I even start.

Moreover, this view is only in a transient email with a poor subject
line; if I were going to implement a CD ripping interface, how would I
find it? Instead, it should be somewhere more permanent.

This is what I mean by creating a replicable process and an output
product for usability. An example might be a repository of design
documents including rationale and proposed UI.

(I understand your comment was just an aside, but I'm picking on you
to make the point ;-)

Havoc