Re: [Usability] The ``Replace File'' dialog should display the two file sizes, times, etc.

[Kirk Bridger <kbridger shaw ca>]

I like this one as well, but I had a few more comments I hope contribute
to the discussion.

An expander, I think, is supposed to hide information that the user may
or may not want.  However in your mockup - what exactly would a user be
able to do without the expander expanded?  It feels like pretty much
everyone will certainly expand it, so why make it an expander?  This is
particularly true with the button labels you've provided.  They refer to
selected items, but without expanding the interface the user cannot
select anything.

It might be useful to offer a visual diff, such as the one used by
apt-get in Debian, where if the user wants they can see a diff of the
two files.  I'd consider this an advanced feature though - something
that _should_ be hidden in an expander or as a separate button.

The labels of the two column might work better if we avoid using the
word 'Existing' as a label.  Both files exist.  Perhaps source and
destination or something along the lines of the copy paradigm?

I'm not really clear on what the icons are doing next to your
description of the problem.  The red x means ...?  Do these change when
the select box is selected?  Why have two means of feedback for the same
action?  If we want to have additional icons, perhaps something more
descriptive, as a red x doesn't really mean much without some kind of
explanation.  Nor does the green arrow - at least to me.

What exactly does selecting the select box do?  The title for that
column should explain that a little better.  I assume that the mocked up
title is a select-all type of select box.  That's a useful feature, or
it could be implemented via a button.  The way you've done it reduced
clutter though.  I'm seeing a trend of sticking so many buttons in
interfaces it takes a few seconds just to read all the labels.

Both columns in the interface represent files, but they are displayed
differently.  The left column is obviously a file, but the right seems
more like meta information and actions (through the icon?).  The column
title should reflect this.  Perhaps 'Action Information' , 'Details',
'Action Details' or something along those lines?


I really like that though - I'd like to see it in action to get a better
feel for it.  Thanks for mocking that up!


Kirk



On Fri, 2005-07-29 at 23:20 -0400, Jason Hoover wrote:
> On Fri, 2005-07-29 at 15:03 +0100, Phil Bull wrote:
> > On 7/29/05, Jason Day <jason s day gmail com> wrote:
> > > Well, I decided to have a go at it:
> > 
> > I had a go too:
> > 
> > http://www.geocities.com/philbull_tk/gnome_dlg_mockup.png
> > 
> > The text is a bit confusing/ambiguous and the dialog is pretty big.
> > 
> > Thanks
> > 
> > Phil
> > 
> 
> I like this one too, it tells the user almost exactly what's going on,
> but I have a few suggestions/questions.
> 
> *There should be a select/de-select all/invert options, perhaps context
> menu.
> 
> *Will the view be expanded by default?
> 
> *There should be a way to Rename. Perhaps a context menu? Have the
> "Existing file" column change to "File will be renamed to:" to
> illustrate.
> 
> *As Eric said, there should probably only be an "Overwrite selected"
> option, but I think perhaps a "Skip All" button should be the default on
> the far right for our friend Mr. Point-and-Grunt.
> 
> *Hmm, entering the distracting pink flamingo territory, a tooltip to get
> more information on the file, or maybe a properties context menu?
> 
> Just a few more cannon fodder thoughts.
> -Jason
> 
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