[Divunal-devel] Usability issues (was "Faucet on Windows")

[Michael Dartt]

Personally, I don't think the principle is sound.  I think that users have
a right to expect things to "just work".  The driving analogy (which I've
heard often, esp. in Linux circles) doesn't hold: "knowing how to drive",
in this context, is closer to knowing how to use the application, while
having to deal with CLASSPATH stuff is more like sitting down in the car
and having to figure out which wires to cross to get it started instead of
it having a keyhole.

Cars are tremendously simpler devices--there's really only one thing you
can do with them, but they, like virtually everything created, have design
issues.  Are components (e.g. keyhole, trunk & hood buttons, parking
break, lock, etc.) positioned in an easy-to-access place?  Is it obvious
how they're used?  This may sound simple, but if anyone's read
_The_Psychology[or Design]_of_Everyday_Things_, he'll know that even
seemingly simple items have a lot of design needs.  When you're talking
about a computer, which can have very different functions for different
people, the situation becomes even more complicated.  The important point,
though, is that for most people, a computer and the OS are just things
that allow them to run their applications, and the apps are just things
that allow them to conveniently get their work done or have fun, just as
their cars are simply things that allow them to get conveniently from one
place to another.  I love programming, but when I get an app, I just want
to be able to fire it up and use it; I'll bet there's a lot of mechanics
out there who have the same attitude regarding their vehicles.  Most don't
buy their cars, etc. on the premise that they'll have to fix it before
they can use it, and similarly, I see anything that makes the application
non-intuitive or buggy as poor craftmanship on the creator's behalf.
(Unless he explicitly states that it's not fully functional, which is why
I get pissed off at commercial software a whole lot more often than open
source software.  It's also why I still use Linux, even with its usability
warts--Jamie Zawinski of Mozilla fame said it best when he noted: "Linux
is only free if you don't consider your time valuable"--though admittedly,
it's the other way around when I'm wanting to code.)

We're not writing a "learn to use your OS" piece of software, we're
writing a game.  Anything that makes it difficult for people to play
should be considered a problem and dealt with as such.  (I'd fix this
script, but I don't know DOS, and I have several other tasks that take
higher priority than learning scripting for an OS I use infrequently.)

Okay.  I think I've made my point.  And for the record, I *did* go and run
the Faucet w/o the scripts--but Reality was broken.

:-) 


--Mike/Jedin