Sorry, I must have dealt with Office ribbon issues too much and have developed an allergy. My rant about auto-arrangements is beside the point because the OP just suggested a user-switchable compact view.
On Fri, 2010-04-23 at 22:33 +0200, Mario Vukelic wrote: > On Fri, 2010-04-23 at 11:36 -0700, Eric Pritchett wrote: > > I'd like to suggest having a Compact Menu View mode enabled by default > > for most windows/apps. The thinking is if a user only uses the File, > > Edit, View, Help, etc 5 times out of 100 and uses the icons below it > > 95/100 times then wouldn't it be better to hide the menu? > > MS Office did this at least up to Office 2003 (dunno about 2007/2010), > and as far as I can tell it was a big failure. I know only two groups of > users: those that turn it off immediately and those who are continually > confused by it. We turn it off by default in our company (15,000 staff) > because tests indicated that the number of generated helpdesk calls > along the lines of "I know that this feature exists because I have used > it before, but for the life of me I cannot find it anymore" would be > rather large. > > For proficient users it decreases the effectiveness of muscle memory. I > don't hunt for menus in the Office apps I use a lot, it all works pretty > automatic. I tried to work with this feature in Office, but every time > the menus get rearranged it makes me stumble and pause to think and > hunt. Just because I haven't used a particular feature for a few days or > weeks does not mean that I want to go hunt for it. > > I do not think that computers should rearrange UI elements autonomously > until they have become much, much better at interpreting human > intentions, which I guess is a hard AI problem. > > Apparently some version of XP had a "feature" to move files and > shortcuts from the desktop into a folder on the desktop, "unused items" > or some such, objecting to what MS apparently perceived as untidiness on > the user's part. It did this when the user had not interacted with the > file for x amount of time (may have been 3 months). Unfortunately it did > apparently not check whether the computer had been used at all during > this time. Sure enough, my mother - who turns her computer on once in a > blue moon - called me each time because "all my stuff is gone". Note > that she also was used to launch applications from desktop shortcuts. > > Now, this is a crass example of stupidity on Microsoft's part, and one > that can easily be fixed or at least improved by taking actual computer > usage into account. However, it still serves to illustrate how easily > users freak out if their stuff is being rearranged autonomously*. > > > Other opinions: > http://discuss.fogcreek.com/joelonsoftware/default.asp?cmd=show&ixPost=94078 > > > Regards > Mario > > > * Users I know manage their files spatially, with dozens of files spread > out over two large screens. When they need one, they will know that > it's, say, in the top right corner of the right-hand screen. It looks > messy and it may not seem or even objectively be the most efficient > method, but it works for them and I must admit that it does make a > certain sense in the context of their work. > > > > _______________________________________________ > Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ayatana > Post to : [email protected] > Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ayatana > More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp _______________________________________________ Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ayatana Post to : [email protected] Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ayatana More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
