Re: [LAU] [OT] GNOME UI

I've not tried G3 yet, but Unity got me back to using Ubuntu. I think the
idea that being influenced by tablet UIs means ditching desktop usability
is wrong. I find keyboard driven usage in Unity really well thought out,
and it's probably the most productive desktop UI I've used in ages.
Unlearning old habits isn't always bad!

My 2c. ;)

Best wishes,

Neil

--
Neil C Smith
Artist : Technologist : Adviser
http://neilcsmith.net
On Jul 12, 2012 11:24 AM, "david" <gnome@email-addr-hidden> wrote:
> On 07/11/2012 11:21 PM, Simon Wise wrote:
>
>> On 12/07/12 03:30, david wrote:
>>
>>  I'm firmly convinced that the GNOME design team begins every session
>>> with the
>>> question, "What more functionality can we remove from users today?"
>>> Eventually,
>>> the GNOME UI will consist of a single button in the middle of the screen
>>> reading, "Shutdown computer". ;-)
>>>
>>
>> Perhaps its a matter of what users and platforms they are catering for
>> ... a UI that works well on the smaller, hand held devices with touch
>> interfaces rather than a mouse and keyboard is very important if that is
>> what you are using, and lots of devices are like that now. It is
>> becoming the most familiar interface.
>>
>> It is easy to confuse 'intuitive' with 'familiar' and believe that what
>> one has learned is somehow the natural way to do things, but this newer
>> style of interface is becoming the most common one => familiar =>
>> 'intuitive'. The Gnome version isn't the result of a collection random
>> decisions along the way, it was described and planned in detail years
>> ago, when the work building it was starting to get serious. Looking
>> closely at UI habits derived from hardware with particular limits and
>> histories, then deciding what is just habit and what really contributes
>> to a good working environment, is a very important part of making a good
>> UI. See this 2009 document:
>>
>> http://www.gnome.org/%**7Emccann/shell/design/GNOME_**Shell-20091114.pdf<http://www.gnome.org/%7Emccann/shell/design/GNOME_Shell-20091114.pdf>
>>
>> it predicts the Gnome 3 interface fairly accurately, and is clearly the
>> origin of their current design principles page a couple of years down
>> the track:
>>
>> https://live.gnome.org/**GnomeShell/Design/Principles<https://live.gnome.org/GnomeShell/Design/Principles>
>>
>
> Just shows me that they've been practicing their bad design philosophy for
> many years. I have tried GNOME3 and KDE4. I found both got in the way far
> more than they helped. I also have used GNOME2, and didn't like it, either.
> While there is value in simplifying things, there is also the danger of
> simplifying too much.
>
> "Nothing is 'intuitive' in its fullest sense." Everything you think is
> "intuitive" about any computer interface is something you learned about
> that interface - and have forgotten you learned. Interfaces that violate
> well-established, well-learned user expectations and experiences are not
> intuitive. They are rude and make users feel stupid. They make users feel
> dictated to by "I know better than you how you should do this task"
> "designers" who far too many times are more wrapped up in being "kewl" and
> buffing up their egos than in producing a good, functional UI for others.
> (Same phenomenon occurs amongst graphic designers pretending to be web
> designers.)
>
> But then, I'm weird. People blog about how tablet/smartphone UIs will take
> over the desktop. I think the whole idea of coming up with a common UI that
> is perfect for both desktop and tablet/smartphone use is a grand exercise
> in misguided stupidity. Fortunately for Linux, Windows 8 seems to be making
> that great mistake for us. Now I just hope Linux desktop environments won't
> do their usual thing and imitate it ... At least Libre/OpenOffice seem to
> have refused to imitate the idiotic MS Office "ribbon" interface.
>
> For audio users, there's the added layer of user expectations and usage
> modes that arises from their musical training and experience. If you're a
> musician who doesn't read music, you might consider sheet music completely
> useless: "Why are the developers wasting their time on that?" Someone who's
> trained and reads music would respond, "How could you possibly do without
> it?" and find it difficult (as I do) to work with a bunch of musicians who
> don't read music, yet want everything tightly rehearsed and planned and
> well-prepared ahead of time. Case in point: lead guitarist of my church
> band. He's terrified of improvising. (He suffers from severe
> perfectionism.) He works very hard on his solos. But if something happens
> and he has to suddenly add an extra measure or two - he's lost. His only
> option is to go back and repeat his entire solo from the beginning. We have
> a violinist in our band who used to play in classical orchestras, yet she
> can't read a note.
>
> My guess for most "intuitive" UI for audio users? The primary instrument
> they play! ;-)
>
> --
> David
> gnome@email-addr-hidden
> authenticity, honesty, community
> http://clanjones.org/david/
> http://dancing-treefrog.**deviantart.com/<http://dancing-treefrog.deviantart.com/>
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Received on Thu Jul 12 16:15:02 2012