Auto-launching of applications

[Chow Loong Jin]

On Sun, 2009-02-22 at 16:59 +0000, Matthew Paul Thomas wrote:
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> Chow Loong Jin wrote on 21/02/09 02:09:
> >...
> > My concerns exactly. I like the current update-notifier behaviour, and I
> > don't doubt many others do. I highly doubt irritating the hell out of
> > many users just because some of them have poor icon observation skills
> > is a good idea.
> > 
> > If there must be a solution for users who have poor icon observation
> > skills, then let it be one that does not irritate those who do have
> > proper icon observation skills. 
> >...
> 
> Print out a screenshot, actual size, of the panel containing the
> updates-available icon. Show it to fifty people who've used computers
> before but haven't seen Ubuntu before, individually, and ask them what
> that particular icon means.
> 
> Out of those fifty people, how many people do you think will guess it
> has anything to do with software updates? Two of them, perhaps? Three?
Okay, but before I do that, why don't you print out a screenshot, actual
size, of the Windows taskbar containing the Windows Updates icon. Show
it to fifty people who've used computers before but haven't seen Windows
before, individually, and ask them what that particular icon means. 

Fact is, if I don't know what it is, I'd hover my pointer over it, or
click on it.
> 
> If your benchmark for of "those who do have proper icon observation
> skills" covers only a tiny proportion of the target population, it's a
> useless and disingenuous benchmark.
It's pointless arguing this. I'd say that majority of the target
population do have proper icon observation skills. However, you would
probably proclaim otherwise. Why don't you do an actual study?
> 
> And again, it's not a problem with that particular icon design; it would
> be a problem with any design at that size. It's a problem with trying to
> convey a bureaucratic idea in a 22×22-pixel space.
> 
> > Perhaps a persistent, dismissable notification would be good, though I
> > understand this goes against the whole idea of the new notification
> > system for Ubuntu. 
> 
> Update Manager *is* a persistent, dismissable notification. The most
> important difference, interaction-wise, between it and a persistent
> notification bubble is that Update Manager doesn't float in front of
> everything else you're doing.
> 
> > Anyway, I currently see the update-notifier approach being used for
> > other GNOME applications like Evolution, which puts an icon in the
> > notification area if you have new mail. If you're going to change this
> > behaviour to make update-manager pop up on its own, why not do a
> > complete job and change Evolution to steal focus when you have new
> > mail? (That, and every other application which uses this approach)
> 
> Because, as demonstrated by almost the entire mobile phone market, the
> envelope icon is understandable to a sufficiently large proportion of
> users. And because stealing focus is never a good idea, which is why
> no-one has suggested that Update Manager should do it either.
> 
Point taken, but if a notification area icon appearing doesn't catch the
user's attention, what makes you think that an update-manager window
appearing behind everything is going to catch the user's attention?
Right now, many of my friends are Windows users, and most of them are
irritated whenever Windows prompts them to update. If I'm not mistaken,
all Windows does is put up an icon and add a notification to it. Just
think how much more irritated they would be if they switch to Ubuntu and
find that Ubuntu pops up an entire window every time there is an update
to be applied. 

Cheers
-- 
Chow Loong Jin

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