planet gnome comment

[stoffe]

Manu Cornet Wrote: 
> Hi !

> 

> > 2. Provide them with a GUI which looks and behaves like usability

> > studies and such say it should.

> 

> But what are these usability studies based on ? If the purpose is to 

> make Nautilus easy and intuitive for newbies, then souldn't the
> question 

> be asked to newbies ? Problem is, newbies often come from Windows...
> Are 

> people making complicated usability studies for several months really 

> able to foresee what a newbie (in a few seconds) will find easy to use,
> 

> and easy to understand ?

> 

> As to feed the troll, I have never touched Windows more than 15
> minutes, 

> and I still really can't understand why spatial mode is convenient (at
> 

> first I thought it was the name for a great new exploring way -- really
> 

> disappointed when I saw what it was).

> 

> Cheers,

> Manu

> 

> -- 

> ubuntu-devel mailing list

> ubuntu-devel at lists.ubuntu.com

> http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-develCan't help but say that most of the time when someone presents, quotes
or refers to usability studies they have some kind of agenda - and many
times there isn't even an actual reference, just the mention of
"usability". This agenda often seems to be "anything, as long as it's
not like Windows" and sometimes "Like Vendor X used to do it, I thought
it was cool then". I've come to distrust usability "experts" because it
too often seems like theory and/or opinion, not anything that has to do
with how humans actually work.



What *is* like humans actually work though is that almost everyone
wants other humans to do things same way as they. That goes for
anything, like what IM network you are using, what programs, what OS,
and all things outside computers too. It often goes as far as talking
down on all alternatives that aren't your preferred choice of café, pub
or navigation mode. "You're on Yahoo/AIM/MSN/ICQ/Jabber? Funny, I
thought everyone used Yahoo/AIM/MSN/ICQ/Jabber nowadays..." Notice the
general term "everyone". Everyone knows. Extremely common in these
discussions.



I would really really like to see some actual, current, up to date
research on this, not what mostly seems like political agendas or
"let's not be windows". Spatial mode - as the example here - seems to
fit some people very well. I'm really doubtful that it fits *most*
though, although that may be *my* preference talking.



What I'm really tired of is the constant "everyone knows that" which
people use, when it is clearly not so. Everyone does not know. And I
think it'd be nice with a good default, I'd just hate to see it being
picked by agenda. And frankly, I feel like many of these opinions are
more than a little condescending. How about actually asking what people
like...? And if your way is actually so superior, you should have no
problem explaining it in short terms, in such a way that people will
actually try it and be able to decide for themselves.


-- 
stoffe