[Bug 1861088]

[Lonnie Lee Best]

"all that is required is moving the mouse further" -  David Edmundson

Respectfully, here me out.

As a new user of KDE, I have no clue what that means (above). Is there
some implicitly hidden gesture that produces the Application Menu on
Additional Monitors? If so, why is this gesture not required on the
default monitor? That's an inconsistency guaranteed to confuse a new
users of KDE (like myself).

Closing this ticket on the grounds that "defaults are subjective"
ignores the fact that "sensible default increase new user adoption".

I'm making the effort to push this point because I've just started using
KDE and I want it to become the goto desktop for all types of users.
Obviously, I can see that it is the goto desktop for power users, but if
you'd give my suggestions deeper consideration KDE will evolve into the
desktop that's preferred by power users AND new users. This can be
accomplished by making defaults explicit instead of hidden: "Show it
until they know it".

I donated $20.00 to KDE.org the other day because of the potential I see
in KDE. That doesn't make what I'm saying unquestionable, but I want you
to know my sincerity.

Here's my primary desktop history:
Windows 3.1
Windows 98
Window XP
GNOME 2 (April 2007 is when I started using Linux exclusively)
Unity 7
GNOME 3
KDE

Out of all of these GNOME 2 was the easiest to use as a new user, but
Unity 7 had the most sensible defaults when it comes to panels in a
Multiple Monitors environment:

In Unity 7, if you installed that desktop onto a computer having
multiple monitors, each additional monitor had all the same panels as
the default monitor. In its day, Unity 7 had more users than GNOME and
KDE combined. When it came to new user adoption, they were doing
something right.

Here's why KDE should do this too by default:

1) Concept of "Burden of Configuration". The burden of configuration is
best placed on users that already have the knowledge of how to configure
KDE. New users benefit from explicit interfaces that show things (on
screen) by default. Auto-hide and gesture-driven access to menus are NOT
sensible defaults for new users. This is NOT subjective. It is a fact.
Once new users know where things are, at that point they can give more
priority to saving screen real-estate with auto-hide and learning
shortcuts such as mouse gestures and hot-keys. Those things are not
intuitive to new users. Until they know it, show it!

2) Concept of "Lowest Number of Steps Required". It requires less steps
to remove a panel than it does to 1) Learn what a panel is 2) Learn the
KDE names of each type of panel 3) Learn the KDE idiosyncrasies of new
panel creation in a multiple monitor setup (see #4 in my original post;
its a bug in and of itself).

3) Concept of "Less Steps Drive New User Adoption". In Web Marketing, it
is a known fact that you lose sales for each additional step that's
required to purchase your product online. Example, if it requires one
step maybe 20% of the people that see it will buy it. If it requires 2
steps: only 15% will buy it. 3 steps 7% will buy it. Amazon.com knows
this, and that's why they created the feature (one click purchasing).
The point is, with each additional set required, you lose people.

The same is probably true for New User adoption of a desktop
environments. How many people have run into the problem I'm reporting
here, and decided to put no effort into trying to change it? How many
people evaluate KDE and after not seeing an application menu on an
additional monitor, just assume wrongly that KDE is inadequate and quit
evaluating it?. How many people get to step 1 (of learning about panels)
and then give up. How many people add a panel, and give up because they
don't want to take the next step to configure it to their liking. Each
additional step a new user has to endure could be the step they give up
on.

Give the new user everything on all monitors by default and I promise
you it will benefit new user adoption. I can't prove it, but I
intelligible know it (based on the concepts above).

-- 
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Kubuntu
Bugs, which is subscribed to kubuntu-meta in Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1861088

Title:
  Include Default Panels on All Monitors By Default

To manage notifications about this bug go to:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/kdelibs/+bug/1861088/+subscriptions