Re: consistency (or lack thereof)

[Bryan Clark <bclark redhat com>]

Matthias Clasen wrote:
> Most of the control-center capplets are immediate-apply
> (except for ones which have very good reason not to be),
> and all of then have a "Close" button. All ? No, not all.
> The background capplet considers it better to have 
> a "Finish" button instead...
>
> I have asked to fix this, but I have been told that
> user testing showed that "Close" is wrong there...
>
> So, what now ? Do we suddenly change all our close buttons
> to finish buttons ? Or do we embrace inconsistency in the 
> name of user testing ?
>   
I think there are a number of ways you could interpret the results of 
that user study.  A user stating that 'Close' didn't make them think 
that their changes would be saved could mean that you change the button 
from 'close' to 'finish' or 'save' or 'done'.  But you could also do 
lots of other things to ensure that a person feels their changes in the 
background capplet are saved.  I think it would be advantageous and fair 
for people to discuss the root problem and prototype the changes, then 
decide the right change that other capplets could take advantage of.  It 
seems hasty and incorrect to just change the one capplet and not the 
others, did user testing show that people felt the other capplets were 
saving even with only a close button?

~ Bryan