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Linux has recently made huge progress in the desktop area. Corporate
interest peaked as Microsoft tighted its monopolistic screws with its
new licensing program earlier this year. However, there are a few things
that I think still need improving in top grade distributions such as
Mandrake or Redhat. This list was developed over a year of watching
my wife using the kde, gnome and fluxbox interfaces primarily in Mandrake
8.x.
We need:
1. Consistent menus/Widgets
For example with the File - Open menu some applications use the gnome
file widget and some use kde and others have their own or modified versions
of the standard (mozilla/xine/xmms). Users find this confusing.
Other menus in Windows that are consistent that make life easier for
users
File - Print
File - Save
File - Save As
Help Files
The book "Don't
make me Think" outlines that consistent ways of interacting
with a computer are key to usability. UI experts speak of computer metaphores which is a set of analogies which suggests
or evokes a mapping from one domain to another. I call this an extension of our inner need for consistency - a component of perception.
2. Improved Fonts
Much has been made of the lack of a good set of true type fonts. Mandrake
has made up for this by making easy to use font importation. And Redhat has made some progress. 'nuf said
3. Reliable Copy and Paste
We have to make sure it works across all kde and gnome applications.
Again, in the past there has been a lot of discussion about this.
4. Troubleshooting Wizards
Troubleshooting wizards are far and few between in Linux. Typically
if something doesn't work users are directed to the command line to
use obscure programs such as vi to edit files. We need more tools for
troubleshooting and for them to be consistent.
5. To Practice Information hiding
One of the best features of Mac which Windows has copied recently is
data hiding. Hide all information - i.e. menus / options etc. that are
not relevant to the task at hand. This is completely contrary to the
UNIX way of doing things.
An example is gnome CD roaster - an excellent tool. CD Roaster has
dozens of options that are not documented in the user interface - and
really for most CD burning are not relevant. Why not hide all but the
crucial options (e.g. CD burn speed) and the file browser and let the
user request the options.
Another hideous example are man pages - which are very confusing for
end users. Info pages aren't much better and help commands are inconsistent.
6. Easier Application Installation
Recent distributions installations are excellent. For applications it
is getting better - but not quite there yet.
What I would like to see are urpmi or apt-get style web links. Here
is an example workflow for an end user.
1) User needs a newsreader and so he searches icewalkers/google and
some other places and find out that other people recommend pan.
2) Unaware that his distro includes it he downloads it
3) Launches Nautilus or konqueror
4) Locates the file And clicks to install it
5) The user is not running as root so the installation fails
6) User changes to root and installs the app
7) Launches the app
What could happen is :
1) User searches the web for a newsreader
2) Unaware that his distro includes it he clicks on it.
a. An application with mime type associated with rpm launches.
b. The application checks the rpm database and notices that the app
is available on the CD - prompts them for their local copy or to install
via the Internet
3) If the user chooses via network it checks the signatures to make
sure they are valid and prompts the user for the root password. It finishes
the install and launches the application.
7. A better file manager
Users need to manage their files - and not just via applications. Windows
has been making it harder and harder for users to properly manage their
files. For example they hide explorer under accessories and try to make
all applications write to " my documents " which at times
can be hidden under the c:\windows directory. I think Mac OS 10.2 has
got this right and nautalis and konqueror are getting better.
Lesser Items include:
8. Install all plugins for the browsers
Lets face it - the number one application for new users is typically
the browser. And many first time users of Linux download their distribution
or get a copy of a free download from a friend. Why not make sure that
the flash/Java/xpdf/acroread & shockwave plugins work for Mozilla/galeon
& konqueror right from the start on the download editions of the
distributions?
9. Fewer initial choice of applications
UNIX users value choice - and a variety of sharp tools to get the
job done. However, your typical home user gets confused by too much
choice( the information hiding principle). Distros such as mandrake
have made strides in this area by making task oriented menus.
10. What was that command again?
One project I have started
is a simple command browser for the linux terminal session. Commands
are clustered by function so it is easy to find a command you may have
forgotten.
Anthony lives in Toronto, Canada and enjoys
teaching his daughter and wife the wonders of zsh ;-)
He runs a small consulting company
that advises firms on email security and develops workflow applications.
Online material:
Bringing Software to Design, Terry Winograd
http://hci.stanford.edu/bds/
Tognazzini, Bruce. Tog on Interface. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley,
1992.
His website
is full of good articles
open source project usability
GNOME UI info from Sun
Causes of problems
Joel rehashes the experts
Java Look and Feel Guidelines
An excellent summary article
OS Standards
Mac
Interface standards
GNOME
Interface Standards
Windows User Interface Standards
Dead Tree Material:
Tufte's 3 books are stunning
- buy one and you will probably want them all :
Tufte, Edward. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. 1983.
Tufte, Edward, Envisioning Information. 1990.
Tufte, Edward, Visual Explanations. 1990.
A nice simple intro:
Norman, Donald. The Design of Everyday Things., 1990 (recently republished)
Responses:
Hi Anthony,
I've read you story about the desktop and it makes me quite "angry".
I'll start with point 5), which is an immense failure to productivity,
e.g. when the developer thinks he know what options are "extended"
and
what are "basic" --
the burning speed IS BASIC and ALWAYS important; even for the
uninitiated user, it's perfectly comprehensible.
It should be your job to provide a bubble-help to show the user the
possible differences between 8x and 1x burning, not to hide this options
because you think it could puzzle the user.
A perfect example where I get mad, is RH 7.3's installes, when it comes
to partition/mountpoint-assigning and selecting the fs of that
partition. The important "what fs on that partition and - should
it be
formated?"-option is hiding under another pop-up dialogue (speaking
of text
version) -- isn't that very IMPORTANT what is done to my partitions
and
that I should see (and change) that on the first sight?
Your should never never slow down a professional by introducing lots
of
clicking around and hiding such options under a "expert
settings"-button. Instead, divide the current dialogue into basic
(required) and
extended options; having an global OVERVIEW about the settings is important
to productivity - not clicking around and checking!
Productivity means, you can do all things quickly, if you are a
professional or a initiated user. If you provide them with extended
options
(but you don't require them to enter them because you choose reasonable
defaults like 8x on an 8x CD-burner) they are getting curious and want
to know, want to learn. Explain them, that 1x may be better (but slower)
for audio-CDs, and so on.
We should always encourage learning and make that interesting, not
treating users as dump things sitting in front of our app.
2) was not an issue for me, since eons I'm using xfstt.
3) what copy and paste? Text? Works thru X. URLs --> OBJECTS? No,
thanks. Drag&Drop is quit over-estimated IMO as it can be simulated
thru
text-copy/pasting.
4) Whew, if you propose that, you are taking away Unix's strength, that
is, to let the user explore the world of his computer. When you are
told to edit this and that file and to change this and that setting,
it's
quite okay - you are not left alone then, are you?
1) Well ... there is lots of discussion about standards and "unified
interface" and stuff. I don't have anything to say about that -
I'm
simply happy that Linux is different.
Lets propose other things:
1) Always and everywhere provide <TAB>-completion (file-dialogs,
...)
2) Don't depend on 100 libs (gtk, gnome, esound, pygtk, ...)
3) K.I.S.S.
4) don't get >fancy<
5) don't think you are the only programm running on the computer
Anyway, I'm getting tired of those "Linux needs this and that
to score
on the desktop"-discussions, because they tend to end in the most
false
conclusion, that is, to model the world for a "computer-illiterated"
(quite a good word; see also http://www.adminspotting.com/ ; as you
guess, I've got such a Tshirt) and such providing the user a total false
view of how things ARE. A model can be abstract, but should not take
away
important attributes of the modeled reality; let users build a correct
"cognitive map" (my favourite term in psychology) of how things
work.
You shouldn't have difficulties to get from the model down to details,
anytime.
Every computer-user should have >basic< knowledge; every user
should be
given the possibility to extend and improve these skills in an easy
way
by providing interesting possibilities to do so.
Kind regards,
Ronny
Ronny T. Lampert
Nuernberg, Germany
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ronny -
I agree with you on many points. As far as the speed on the CD Burning
- perhaps I wasn't clear. I intended that the speed be viewable. I think your sentiments are probably shared by most unix/linux users who are often experts. The article is from the perspective of my wife who is not an expert and is confused by anything she isn't familiar with. Mac has a User level rating which could be usefull for this purpose.
Yours,
Anthony
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