[freenet-dev] Usability and functionality

[Arne Babenhauserheide]

Am Dienstag, 3. April 2012, 18:43:51 schrieb Matthew Toseland:
> From
> http://127.0.0.1:8889/USK at 
> X1LyFuoMhnKY7KLK5-RBQ3IHtNJLAUSV~IjzRuxi6Kw,x9otzn
> rH7Y8R42TzfAqDHv5Fda2ojIhqJw7iPRzimz8,AQACAAE/Volodya/28/
> 
> 
> Old friends coming back, freenet is moving
> 
> Some friends that i've known from back in 0,5 era have been coming back.
> There are also new people who are moving onto this network, so we must
> think about what is the main goal for this place. I believe that the major
> challenge right now does have to do with the user interface (on this i
> agree with people like Ian Clarke); however, when he says that Javascript
> is a requirement or that user interface means how things look like, i am in
> total disagreement.

You are in good company with many other freenet users on this, I think.

> So what is "user interface" if not look and feel? Well, it's simple we need
> to have an interface which fits the purpose. The purpose of talking, for
> example, is to be able to receive messages from other people simply and
> then send messages oneself. At the same time the purpose of inserts is to
> announce that insert, so there needs to be a way to simply announce that
> insert to others. None of this requires changing any look and feel, it's
> all about functionality. So the interface rework must start with actually
> implementing the features that the interface requires.

I fully agree. 

One relevant point might be to reduce context switches for users: Make it 
possible to use everything from the same UI component. 

It can also mean to make writing mails possible from the email reader, so the 
user does not have to switch the context between writing regular mails and 
freenet mails.

And I think that what we need is not a completely different interface but 
rather tons of polishing: All those small things which for example Apple did 
right (let?s ignore the golden chains they added to that for the sake of the 
argument?): All the common tasks just work and are completely polished down to 
killing the last disturbing flickering.

An interface has to be fast and it has to work without workarounds (like 
clicking the knobs for all uploads one-by-one to be able to delete them). And 
it must have progress bars wherever it does not react in under 1s. A general 
reaction time of less than 300ms would be preferrable. Under 30ms would be an 
ultimate goal (then any lagging would not be noticeable anymore: it would feel 
instant).

Essentially it is about user-stories just working and about killing off paper-
cuts: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/OneHundredPaperCuts

Note that completely rewriting the UI will likely increase the number of 
paper-cuts!

Also it?s important to make any non-essential decisions optional: Don?t force 
the user to decide 
  stuff for which we can offer good defaults. Also don?t force him to decide 
wether to take a decision for each option (yes, I think this has to be said?). 
This also means to provide all 
  essencial features by default and have single-click activation for features.
  The single button to activate Freetalk and WoT is a good example for that:
  The user wants forums, so s/he needs a button to activate Forums (and have 
  the node guide him or her through the rest when he or she has time 
  ? notification). We need the same for Sone. Also solving captchas has to be 
  integrated in the notification system: If you want to 

To recap (also from old discussions):

* Make the UI react fast. Where necessary and possible with progress bars.
* Get rid of small inconveniences.
* Reduce the number of clicks to do a given task.
* Make non-essential decisions optional.
* Reduce the number of headings. Best to 4. With images.?

Best wishes,
Arne

?: The reason for reducing the headings to 4 is to make them instantly 
   graspable for humans: http://web.mit.edu/press/2011/picower-brains.html
   I learned that when searching to find ways to write code so it?s easier to 
   understand: http://draketo.de/node/482

--
singing a part of the history of free software: 

- http://infinite-hands.draketo.de

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Re: [freenet-dev] Usability and functionality

[Arne Babenhauserheide]

Am Dienstag, 3. April 2012, 18:43:51 schrieb Matthew Toseland:
> From
> http://127.0.0.1:8889/USK@X1LyFuoMhnKY7KLK5-RBQ3IHtNJLAUSV~IjzRuxi6Kw,x9otzn
> rH7Y8R42TzfAqDHv5Fda2ojIhqJw7iPRzimz8,AQACAAE/Volodya/28/
>
>
> Old friends coming back, freenet is moving
>
> Some friends that i've known from back in 0,5 era have been coming back.
> There are also new people who are moving onto this network, so we must
> think about what is the main goal for this place. I believe that the major
> challenge right now does have to do with the user interface (on this i
> agree with people like Ian Clarke); however, when he says that Javascript
> is a requirement or that user interface means how things look like, i am in
> total disagreement.

You are in good company with many other freenet users on this, I think.

> So what is "user interface" if not look and feel? Well, it's simple we need
> to have an interface which fits the purpose. The purpose of talking, for
> example, is to be able to receive messages from other people simply and
> then send messages oneself. At the same time the purpose of inserts is to
> announce that insert, so there needs to be a way to simply announce that
> insert to others. None of this requires changing any look and feel, it's
> all about functionality. So the interface rework must start with actually
> implementing the features that the interface requires.

I fully agree.

One relevant point might be to reduce context switches for users: Make it
possible to use everything from the same UI component.

It can also mean to make writing mails possible from the email reader, so the
user does not have to switch the context between writing regular mails and
freenet mails.

And I think that what we need is not a completely different interface but
rather tons of polishing: All those small things which for example Apple did
right (let’s ignore the golden chains they added to that for the sake of the
argument…): All the common tasks just work and are completely polished down to
killing the last disturbing flickering.

An interface has to be fast and it has to work without workarounds (like
clicking the knobs for all uploads one-by-one to be able to delete them). And
it must have progress bars wherever it does not react in under 1s. A general
reaction time of less than 300ms would be preferrable. Under 30ms would be an
ultimate goal (then any lagging would not be noticeable anymore: it would feel
instant).

Essentially it is about user-stories just working and about killing off paper-
cuts: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/OneHundredPaperCuts

Note that completely rewriting the UI will likely increase the number of
paper-cuts!

Also it’s important to make any non-essential decisions optional: Don’t force
the user to decide
  stuff for which we can offer good defaults. Also don’t force him to decide
wether to take a decision for each option (yes, I think this has to be said…).
This also means to provide all
  essencial features by default and have single-click activation for features.
  The single button to activate Freetalk and WoT is a good example for that:
  The user wants forums, so s/he needs a button to activate Forums (and have
  the node guide him or her through the rest when he or she has time
  → notification). We need the same for Sone. Also solving captchas has to be
  integrated in the notification system: If you want to

To recap (also from old discussions):

* Make the UI react fast. Where necessary and possible with progress bars.
* Get rid of small inconveniences.
* Reduce the number of clicks to do a given task.
* Make non-essential decisions optional.
* Reduce the number of headings. Best to 4. With images.¹

Best wishes,
Arne

¹: The reason for reducing the headings to 4 is to make them instantly
   graspable for humans: http://web.mit.edu/press/2011/picower-brains.html
   I learned that when searching to find ways to write code so it’s easier to
   understand: http://draketo.de/node/482

--
singing a part of the history of free software:

- http://infinite-hands.draketo.de



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[freenet-dev] Usability and functionality

[Matthew Toseland]

From
http://127.0.0.1:8889/USK at 
X1LyFuoMhnKY7KLK5-RBQ3IHtNJLAUSV~IjzRuxi6Kw,x9otznrH7Y8R42TzfAqDHv5Fda2ojIhqJw7iPRzimz8,AQACAAE/Volodya/28/
:

Old friends coming back, freenet is moving

Some friends that i've known from back in 0,5 era have been coming back. There 
are also new people who are moving onto this network, so we must think about 
what is the main goal for this place. I believe that the major challenge right 
now does have to do with the user interface (on this i agree with people like 
Ian Clarke); however, when he says that Javascript is a requirement or that 
user interface means how things look like, i am in total disagreement.

So what is "user interface" if not look and feel? Well, it's simple we need to 
have an interface which fits the purpose. The purpose of talking, for example, 
is to be able to receive messages from other people simply and then send 
messages oneself. At the same time the purpose of inserts is to announce that 
insert, so there needs to be a way to simply announce that insert to others. 
None of this requires changing any look and feel, it's all about functionality. 
So the interface rework must start with actually implementing the features that 
the interface requires.
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[freenet-dev] Usability and functionality

[Matthew Toseland]

From
http://127.0.0.1:8889/USK@X1LyFuoMhnKY7KLK5-RBQ3IHtNJLAUSV~IjzRuxi6Kw,x9otznrH7Y8R42TzfAqDHv5Fda2ojIhqJw7iPRzimz8,AQACAAE/Volodya/28/
:

Old friends coming back, freenet is moving

Some friends that i've known from back in 0,5 era have been coming back. There 
are also new people who are moving onto this network, so we must think about 
what is the main goal for this place. I believe that the major challenge right 
now does have to do with the user interface (on this i agree with people like 
Ian Clarke); however, when he says that Javascript is a requirement or that 
user interface means how things look like, i am in total disagreement.

So what is "user interface" if not look and feel? Well, it's simple we need to 
have an interface which fits the purpose. The purpose of talking, for example, 
is to be able to receive messages from other people simply and then send 
messages oneself. At the same time the purpose of inserts is to announce that 
insert, so there needs to be a way to simply announce that insert to others. 
None of this requires changing any look and feel, it's all about functionality. 
So the interface rework must start with actually implementing the features that 
the interface requires.


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