Re: [Usability] An Attempt at tasks for the FOSD

[Dave Malcolm <david davemalcolm demon co uk>]

On Sat, 2003-09-13 at 08:28, Mark Finlay wrote:
> These are in no way complete and were only really thought of in 10
> minutes but they will hopefully server to get the ball rolling and show
> those unfamiliar with task-based design what Havoc and Calum were on
> about.
> 
> If people reply with comments and additions I'll try to put together a
> summary later on.
> 
> ps. frequent folders == bookmarks etc..
> 
> ----- Open Dialog -----
> 
> Frequent by Many (Visible, few clicks)
> * Find folder within the heirarchy
> * Find a file within that folder
> * Select a root/folder from a list of frequently used folders  
>   (including ~/, / , Network:// and user defined roots)
I'd suggest adding "Recent Folders" here; it should be automatically
managed, perhaps using an extension of this FreeDesktop spec:
http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/recent-file-spec/


> Frequent by Few (Suggested, few clicks)
> * Use tab completion for fast navigation
> 
> Ocasional by Many (Suggested, more clicks)
> * Add a folder to the list of frequent folders
> * Use a filter to narrow the selection
> * View a preview of the item being opened
Suggested addition to "occasional by many": compare certain properties
of files:
	Boring ones:
	- date/time of last modification
	- size

	More interesting ones:
	- dimensions of an image
	- other metadata etc...
The precise properties you might be interested in vary by filetype.  For
instance, for image files, the dimensions in pixels and bit-depth are
relevant, whereas for documents the Author and Page Count fields might
be of more interest...

Though currently the API provides no means for getting at arbitrary
metadata :-(

> 
> Occasional by Few (Hidden, more clicks)
> * ?
Suggested addition to "occasional by few": type the actual URL (with
completion) - though it's so involved that you don't need to "hide" it;
having to take the trouble to type full URLs into the "name" part of the
dialog is "hidden" already.

----- Save As Dialog -----
> Frequent by Many (Visible, few clicks)
> * Find folder within the heirarchy
> * Select a filename
> * Select a filetype
> * Select a root/folder from a list of frequently used folders  
>   (including ~/, / , Network:// and user defined roots)
I'd suggest adding "Recent Folders" here too

> 
> Frequent by Few (Suggested, few clicks)
> * Use tab completion for fast navigation
> 
> Ocasional by Many (Suggested, more clicks)
> * Add a folder to the list of frequent folders
> * Create a new folder
> * Change settings specific to the file type being used
Suggested addition: Toggle whether the filename extension should be
hidden or shown.  I believe it should be supplied automatically, in
either case.  I believe that the default should be "hidden".

> 
> Occasional by Few (Hidden, more clicks)
> * Select the encoding of the file being saved