Re: [Usability] [Yet Another] New File Chooser Design

[Luke Hutchison <lukeh byu net>]

On Wed, 2004-02-25 at 00:12, Bryan Clark wrote:
> On Tue, 2004-02-24 at 23:46 -0700, Luke Hutchison wrote:
> > [[Initial (long) disclaimer]]
> 
> <snip>disclaimer</snip>
> 
> Phew!  I would start looking into legal work before UI stuff with
> disclaimers like that.  ;-)

:) The reason for the long disclaimer was that I got a lot of mail after
posting to the desktop-devel list saying "It's too late for this, and
you're talking to the wrong people".  I really don't want to step on
anyone's toes, I just want to present another alternative in the least
offensive way possible!

> If you're looking for discussion on your file chooser as a replacement
> for what we already have working then yes it's a bit too late.  That

Nope -- just throwing out an alternative, possibly for some future
release.  Thus the comment that if nobody wants to look at it until
after this release, then no worries.  I posted more to say, "Let's not
believe that the GtkFileChooser default UI has to remain fixed from this
point on forever" -- the current one looks good, but I'm sure it can be
improved upon in the future in a way that most people like.

> kind of stuff needs to get punted to the next release so we can all have
> a little time off from that thread. :-)  It's not that we've already
> thought of all your ideas, just that we're running into a deadline that
> I'm sure you understand.

Definitely.  (I'm doing what I can to file bugs, FWIW)

> However if you'd just like to discuss some ideas you've got, then people
> on this list might be up for it.  However I'd shorten your proposal to a
> more digestible size for that discussion, or perhaps just a few ideas
> you'd like to work on.  

Thanks for the feedback.  Here is a short list:

1. Can we make a simpler UI by giving the File Chooser a menu bar?
2. Are some basic file-open/file-save use cases improved by this UI?
3. Is it intuitive to the masses?
4. Is it the Right Thing to Do?

-> The answer to "1." seems to be "Yes", on face value -- but as people
have argued before, simplicity doesn't equal ease-of-use.

-> "2." would have to be tested by those who understand user testing
well (I think Calum and Anna have run File Chooser usability tests
before)

-> "3." always seems to be a mix of actual results ("2.") and everyone's
personal opinion -- I guess everyone's grandmothers have different
computer skill levels ;)

-> The message by Maurizio Coulcci in this thread has a link to KDE's
style standards, which says emphatically that the answer to "4." is
always "No".  See that thread for details.

> It's great to see this kind of work put into the file chooser design,
> thanks for your proposal.

Thank you.

-Luke.