Re: [Usability] Gnome button ordering

[Alan Horkan <horkana maths tcd ie>]

On Wed, 5 Oct 2005, Armand LEGRAND wrote:

> Date: Wed, 05 Oct 2005 13:56:01 +0200
> From: Armand LEGRAND <armand legrand gmx net>
> Reply-To: armand legrand gadz org
> To: hig gnome org, usability gnome org
> Subject: [Usability] Gnome button ordering
>
> Hello,
>
> I am a brand new Ubuntu user and I enjoy this linux-based OS with Gnome.
> I tried KDE before but I wanted to try Gnome at once and I am (almost)
> not disapointed.

Keep in mind Ubuntu make some minor changes of their own.  (Does not seem
to be a problem in this case but it keep it in mind nonetheless.)

> Everything is clear and usefull but I have a problem with the button
> ordering for alerts as described in the HIG 2.0 (Figure 3.12).

Clearly you made the effort to look it up which is great and we would be
lucky to have more users like you. Though it never hurts to include the
link if you already have it in front of you.
http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gup/hig/2.0/windows-alert.html

> I dare not say that I know all the OS and window-managers but I know a
> few of them among the most common and I was really surprised when I saw
> that the button ordering with Gnome was different to the others I
> usually work with.

I believe Mac OS X uses a similar button order.

> I'd like to know two things:
> 1- Why is Gnome different on this point? Usually it's "Affirmative,
> Negative, Cancel"

Why do other operating systems traditionally list it that way?

Simon wrote: "the button you're most likely to want to select is at the
bottom right corner of the window" but that describes only the desired
effect rather than the cause behind it all.

You see English and many other languages read from left to right and
this has a significant impact on the way we think and the way we scan
a scene for information.  It applies to all kinds of things including fine
art and industrial design.

Dialogs in computer interfaces work best if they fit in with the readers
flow and the layout is designed so that the affirmative action which
allows you to progress will always be last and and at the far right edge,
which I believe has ergonimic benefits making it easier to target.

I found it annoying and inconsistent with what I was familiar with at
first but I stuck with it and now I wouldn't have it any other way and
prefer this button order and sincerely believe it is better.

> 2- Can I change this on my computer (Ubuntu Breezy with Gnome,
> naturally) without changing the window manager?

The button order is unrelated to the Window Manager.

However there is a system built in to GTK which makes it possible to
change the button order.  Do not get your hopes up, it was only added in
in version 2.6 of Gtk and very few applications have made the changes
necessary to support it.  The Gnu Image Manipulation program is one of the
few applications I know of which supports this feature.  All you can do it
is try to find out more about it and (by filing bug reports in bugzilla)
encourage developers using gtk to support it in their applications.

I'm hoping Qt will also support the Gnome style button order.  Presumably
it is something they already need for better Mac OS X integration.

> Except this, I find your work pretty good. Go on this way and more and
> more users will turn to Linux.
>
> Thank you for all you make,

Thanks for making the effort to provide us with feedback.  I hope you will
continue to play around with Gnome and see if maybe you get used to the
button order.  I encourage you to provide more feedback especially if they
are in the form of bugzilla reports.

Sincerely

Alan Horkan

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