Re: [Usability] spatial nautilus concerns

[David Feldman <mailing-lists interfacethis com>]

I do want to respond to some of the specific points made by other  
posters, BUT this thread has largely lost track of my original point,  
which I do think is the important one. So I'm going to try again:

We all have opinions regarding the spatial metaphor. We all have some  
intuitive notions of why one way of doing things is better or worse  
than another. But none of us is arguing from hard, empirical evidence  
gathered through unbiased user testing. The usability advantages and  
disadvantages of each metaphor, and the feasibility of various hybrids,  
certainly makes for interesting discussion but ultimately should be  
resolved through the gathering of real data.

To put it a slightly different way: GNOME has now implemented all the  
features of both the "spatial" and "navigation" modes. Without any  
significant coding we can mix and match elements of each. We have all  
the underpinnings of an excellent usability test to determine which of  
the competing claims about these paradigms is true, and what the  
outcomes of the various trade-offs are. Instead of continuing to argue  
based on our opinions and intuitions, we should find out the answers. I  
will help if I can.

--Dave

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David A. Feldman
User Interface Designer
http://InterfaceThis.com