[mythtv-users] Why Free Software has poor usability ?

[Jerry Rubinow]

On Fri, Aug 8, 2008 at 10:49 AM, Jay R. Ashworth <jra at baylink.com> wrote:

> On Thu, Aug 07, 2008 at 06:44:09PM -0400, Jerry Rubinow wrote:
> >    I've used Office 2K7 with the ribbon interface. (IMHO) MS has
> >    clearly put a lot of thought into useability with this. It's one
> >    of the most well-designed and intuitive interfaces I've ever used,
> >    and I believe a lot of smart people spent a lot of time on it. Try
> >    playing around with it with an objective eye, not as a comparison
> >    to the previous version of Office.
>
> Alas, "that's all well and good", but it doesn't take into account the
> probably tens of millions of manhours that have been spent learning and
> teaching the old interface.


There are two versions of Office.  Why would you upgrade if you like and
want to stick with the old interface?  2003 accounts for all of those
people.  2007 accounts for all the people who find the old interface hard to
use, and for anyone new to Office who will likely find it much easier to
learn.


And it completely violates the "Windows is a pretty neat idea because
> you only have to learn how to run apps once" argument in favor of WIMP
> interfaces in general.


1. The utility of that paradigm breaks down when you start getting to the
point of hundreds of menu items.
2. It's arguable whether it's even true in the first place, but regardless,
it doesn't mean that one should never try to improve the UI.



> Efficiency: fixing the problem right.
>
> Effectiveness: fixing the right problem.
>

The purpose of O2K7 was to fix its usability problems, from what I
understand, and I think they made good strides in doing that.

-Jerry
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