Re: [Usability] Users and Groups dialog

[Matthew Thomas <mpt myrealbox com>]

On 25 Oct, 2005, at 4:59 AM, Simon Howard wrote:
> ...
> I was wondering if anyone had looked at the "Users and Groups" dialog
> in GNOME System Tools with a view to improving its usability.

Yes, it's been a peeve of mine for a while. I think the existence of 
gnome-about-me is a symptom of flawed design in Users and Groups.

> The main thing that bugs me about this dialog is the excessive amount
> of detail given in the user list.  At the very least, the home
> directory and shell should not be shown in the list - in the
> properties dialog these are even listed under "Advanced Settings"!

Agreed -- many, if not most, people won't even use a shell.

> I'm tempted to say that the UID should be removed as well but maybe
> there's a case for it.

One person might have multiple accounts, so they would need to 
distinguish them by name. (That's also one of the reasons using the 
word "user" is a bad idea: for people with multiple accounts, it's a 
synecdoche.)

> The search box is useful but rather complicated to use.  You have to
> specify whether you want to search on User name, User ID, Group name
> or User GID.  How about removing the dropdown list and simply making
> the list reduce to any users which match any of those conditions?
> ...

Another good idea. Now find someone to implement it. :-)

--
Matthew Paul Thomas
http://mpt.net.nz/