On Sun, 2006-08-13 at 08:07 +0100, Matthew Paul Thomas wrote: > On Aug 13, 2006, at 5:29 AM, Michael R. Head wrote: > > > > On Sat, 2006-08-12 at 12:36 +0200, Matthew Paul Thomas wrote: > >> > >> Efficiency is only one aspect of usability, and there might be other > >> reasons to keep using separate applets (ability to show multiple > >> categories simultaneously? substantially different ideal window > >> widths? ease of extension?), but none that I can think of stand out > >> as being particularly important. > > > > Yeah, and GOMS analyses, while great at measuring maximum UI efficiency > > for expert users > > Did you miss the part where I was including the number of mistakes? :-) It's very hard to account for confusion at having a different interface style (double click pops up new window vs. interface changes around when selecting an applet) or time required to read. > > should be at best a secondary tool for designers, IMHO. The best thing > > (as always) is to do a study with a selection of target users. > > User studies would be important to measure learnability and > satisfaction. They probably wouldn't give useful information about > efficiency or memorability, unless they lasted for for weeks or months. I think learnability and satisfaction are arguable far more important for most desktop-related tasks. Unless I do a task a lot, I'd rather have an easier time relearning it than minimizing the time to complete the task. I might go to the control panel a lot when I first use the computer or once in a while after I've initially tailored it to suit my likes, but it's not a routine task that needs efficiency optimization. > > To put it another way, if browser mode is harder to comprehend for > > file management, why is it good for control panels? > > ... > > Because with file management, the number of items in a group changes > more often, wanting to view more than one set of stuff at once is much > more common, and dragging items from one group to another is the most > obvious way to move or copy them. > > To put it another way, browse mode turns file moving and copying into > an expert-only feature. (Experts can learn how "Cut", "Copy", and > "Paste" have inconsistent meanings between file manager windows and > document windows.) I agree that that's the salient difference between file management and control panel selection, but I think the salient similarity trump that: specifically, you're working with a flat hierarchy of (potentially) many different objects. What's more, (assuming an OS/X-like design), changing the interface around is quite jarring. In any event, I was mostly just commenting that I dislike GOMS analysis and think it should be kept as a minor, secondary tool for designers. At the same time, I do appreciate the analysis, as it is interesting on a sort of intrinsic level. I'd appreciate a comparison of the new-style windows XP control panels vs. the old style windows 2k panels, which is particularly interesting because both are available and most (techy) people I know seem to immediately switch to the classic style. -- Michael R. Head <burner suppressingfire org> suppressingfire.org
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