Re: [Usability] Deep thoughts and proposal on the awful trashcan/eject issue (long)

[Jason Hoover <jasonhoover verizon net>]

(Damn Ctrl+Enter, gets me every time.)

[Note: Some quotes may be part of other messages, didn't feel like
properly quoting. ]

On Fri, 2005-05-06 at 11:45 +0100, Phil Bull wrote:
> Is an eject menu significant enough to most users to be included by
> default in Actions?

> So I don't personally think this is the way to go. Using Trash is a
> good idea & while not consistant it should be an option. You could
> turn it off (or on) in Preferences if you wanted to, similar to the
> choice between spatial & navigational nautilus.

I intended to suggest that all of the suggestions be implemented as a
complete solution. The reason I suggest putting it in the
actions/desktop menu was because "mount network volume was there".
Logically, one would assume where one could mount, one could unmount.

It could also be in the "Computer" location as well, but putting it in
the actions menu doesn't require the user trudge all the way to the
desktop first. I also imagine putting it there may consume extra code,
but would be quite logical.

It should include network drives too, possibly separated (because of all
the work involved in mounting them in the first place).

> The way trashing volumes works should be refined - some operations are
> bound to be ambiguous. In this situation, you can't just presume that
> the user wants to eject a volume - they might want to format it or
> they might have dragged it over the icon by mistake (unlikely, but
> hey). We can't just guess at what the user wants to do, they have to
> make the decision, not the developer.

Which is why I suggested the floppy-formatter applet be improved
(nautilus-cd-burner handles CDRW's gracefully, though). Really, it
should work on removable generic block devices as well.

> - Use modifier keys or different mouse-clicks - dragging to trash
> ejects the volume, Ctrl + Drag erases the volume, or left-click drag
> ejects & right-click drag erases.

What about left-ctrl-super-meta-key-double-bucky-shift?

No. No no no no no no no. I never want to see erasing a volume take any
less than two clicks, even with insane key combinations.

Even on MacOS, formatting a volume involved selecting it, going to
special, going to erase disk, pressing okay, and THEN confirming you
REALLY wanted to. Emptying a volume in a manner that overrides user-set
permissions (read only!) should take a good deal of effort.

> Yes, the flaw with this method is that it requires the user to learn
> about which type of click to use from somewhere.

That too.

> - Display a menu. The suggestion of using an info box is a little
> fiddly - it pops up centre-screen, the user has to read it etc etc. If
> this happens every time, user gets fed up. If they can choose a
> default action to perform each time it's better, but still fiddly & if
> they want to perform an action different to the default it's a pain to
> change.

> > Right. This behaviour does not meat users expectations, as nobody
> > will want to bring that message dialog up. An having to read / click
> > that dialog is a waste of time.

This is a valid point. There really is no need for evangelism in the
world of UI. But, the behavior of ejecting something by dragging it to
the trash is not one that should be re-enforced, just supported if the
user wants it. (It would be amusing to watch the HIG 3.0 eat it's own
liver in the metaphor section though.)

Which is why the "Make this the default:" option exists. It would pester
them until they made up their mind about how they wanted it to behave
(it might even give them a small swell of confidence too). But the
dialog itself is only there to smarten up the users to the location of
the options and alternate methods. For all practical reasons it might
not be necessary/desirable, and just a nuisance.

> That's a bit much to read, presents options that can be avoided all 
> together. It doesn't meat the expectations of those who know the Mac 
> behaviour.

Gnome shouldn't cater directly to the mac crowd. We should provide a
reasonable option to emulate (what some consider) buggy UI design and
lame metaphors though. Especially where no other obvious alternative
exists, and the system itself appears to mimic the same behavior
(locking the drive while in use, being unhappy if removed without
unmount).

The problem with changing the trash icon, not everyone notices this at
first, and while it's a cute idea, it may suck down too many resources
to implement fully in gnome (Especially if you have the trash in the
tray).

As for the idea of adding an eject icon to the main icon of the volume,
this is interesting. However, I don't think auntie may would be able to
target the bugger with her serial MS mouse.

-- 
Jason Hoover <jasonhoover verizon net>