[Usability] Re: [Epiphany] A Safari Through Safari...

[Marco Pesenti Gritti <mpeseng tin it>]

On Sat, 2003-06-07 at 20:54, Jeff Waugh wrote:
> So,
> 
> Yes, me too: I'm not happy with Epiphany's current bookmarks implementation.
> Even with the bookmarks menu in 0.7.0, it's still not there, and I think
> it's a deeper design issue than a "where do we put the widgets?" issue.
> 
> Upon realising that most of my suggestions would end up being along the
> lines of, "Safari does a very clever thing about this...", I thought I'd
> summarise some of its really clever features for anone who hasn't used it
> yet. Of course, in this first version of the document, I've concentrated on
> its bookmarks model. :-)
> 
> Hopefully you guys think this is worth further thought, and are willing to
> look to Safari for inspiration.
> 
> If anyone has further questions about how it works, I'd be very happy to
> answer them (and update the document).

Hi,

first of all I like Safari bookmarks. When I first see them, only on
videos/screenshots unfortunately, I was positively surprised they did
similar design decision about the two things I care more (the new
bookmark dialog and the two pane view).

I see two important difference in epiphany/safari bookmarks.

1 The "embedded" bookmarks window (?) is probably easier and faster to
use than a toplevel window like we have in epiphany
2 You can edit bookmarks menus and toolbars as special categories.

About 1. I think we should go in that direction after 2.4. There are
some problems to solve about editing (for example the two add buttons
you was complaining about) but with Seth help I'm sure we will be able
to come with something good.

About 2. I'll just tell my personal impressions as user, please consider
them as just that.

I dont think I would ever use that feature for a few reasons:

- I dont like to customize user interface working on models. Only direct
manipulation works for me in these cases.

- I dont like to micromanage my bookmarks. What I like in epiphany
system is that adding bookmarks is very simple. I choose the topics the
bookmark is related to, adjust the title and I'm done. Having to think
if I need to put the bookmark in toolbar, menubar or only in the pane
view would just slow me down.

- There are two basic tasks I usually use bookmarks for.

Open a very often used site
Open an useful site that I filed to be sure to not lose that info.

For useful sites I guess the pane view will work perfectly. (as the
window does in epiphany now).
For often used sites an automatically generated list of bookmarks at the
end of the menu would work better for me because I dont have to bother
editing it and it will be kept automatically updated.