Potential input for the Extra Mile project

[A.B. Ole]

Hi,

lately, I decided to give KDE a try, after having used Linux Mint for a
couple of years. I found several strange/annoying things that really
surprised me (mostly issues I'd expect to be fixed between 4.0 and 4.1 of
KDE). Googling KDE I came across the Extra Mile initiative, which (I think)
is a great idea: this could bring KDE really to the people. So, I think I
should communicate my findings. I'm not sure if this maling list is the
most appropriate way to do that, but at least this works for me. Hopefully
they can be meaningful input for some developers.

The point-of-view I'm taking is mostly of a spoiled windows/apple user or,
to put it differently: the viewpoint of an average knowadays computer user
who has high demands on the user interface and how it behaves, but has no
clue on what a user interface actually is : he/she just switches on the
computer and uses it without further thinking. (or even considering the
software developers who actualy _make_ the GUI...). Since I haven't been
using KDE for several years, and since I haven't gotten used to the little
annoyances, I think it's the best time to write this mail.

I've tried to categorize them, as I found some common factors.
*
Alignment issues:*
* in the Quicklaunch widget: particularly when the launcher names are not
shown, the icons seem to have strong preference for horizontal alignment.
When making the widget bigger, the icons scale with it. That's good, except
for that, when I want vertical alignment, I can only do that with small
icons. It seems that this issue occurs specifically when showing launcher
names.
Suggestion for fixing : add an option to switch between horizontal and
vertical alignment of icons, of alternatively: fix the number of
rows/columns
* Again the quicklaunch widget : If launcher names are shown, and the icons
are aligned vertically, the quiklaunch widget can be made so narrow that
the lables don't fit in. This looks very strange.
* Activity bar widget: same strange preference for horizontal alignment of
the activity buttons as the icons in the quicklaunch widget.
* ACtivity bar widget : the widget can be made smaller than the buttons.
This looks very weird. I think this is the same problem as with the
quicklaunch widget, as described above.
* Panel adjustment: adjusting the width and position of the panel is very
complicated and confusing. Also in the "more settings" drop-down menu: what
do these panel alignment options exactly do? I understand they are
mathematically very elegant ways to describe how the panel positioning
works, but it seems unnecessarily complicated. 'Average users' won't
understand. Only having it adjustable at the left and right ends would be
good enough - perhaps add a button to have the panel always in the middle
of the screen. That's already more than most people will use (probably they
will have the panel bar filling the entire width of the screen).


*Slowly responding interface:*
* The system tray elegantly allows the user to hide certain items. That's
really good. But, when scolling through the hidden items by mouse (after
clicking on the up-arrow that reveals them), the highlighting of the item
is slower than the mouse, if I move the pointer over the list of hidden
tray items rapidly.
* The application launcher : it has this very convenient 'switch tabs on
hover' option. However, if I want to reach the 'leave' section rapidly, the
tab switching follows the mouse too slowly. Please add an option to let the
user decide on how slowly the tabs switch on mouse hovering. Zero delay by
default feels best to me, but that may be a matter of taste.
* THe same holds for moving the mouse over the taskbar while 'window
previews' are shown. When moving the mouse from one window to an other the
previews want to follow, but they are too slow.
* same issue when moving the mouse over the widgets in the 'add widget'
thing.
*

Pop-ups :*
* pop-ups appear when the 'add widget' thing is active, and they block the
user interface. If, for example, the mouse is on the most left widget, a
large popup appears, covering the search bar. If the mouse is on the second
left widget the 'categories button' is blocked.
* The popups in the 'add widget' thing are not necessary in the first
place: they display the same description as the widgets do themselves, and
they mention something about the author and the type of license. Most users
don't care about that, and if they want to know these things nevertheless,
I would suggest putting them in the configuration dialog box of each
widget.


*Layout :*
* the colour of the blue glow (of active windows): adjusting the colour of
turning the glowing off is hard to find. Also, the glow colour is unique.
It should be linked to a colour in the theme colours.
* in Dolphin, the icon in the Information panel is huge compared to
anything else in the Dolphin window. What does this icon add for the user
in the first place?
* the 'multiple tabs' layout of the application launcher seems somewhat
oldfashioned. Combining it into 1 thing is convenient. Look, for example,
at Linux Mint. THeir menu is one of their most appreciated items...with
good reason


*Miscellaneous:*
* battery indicator : show how many minutes of battery time I have left, or
at least have the option to do so.
* the "add widgets" thing, normally put above the bottom panel, has an
inconvenient layout. Making the 'widget objects'smaller would make them
more easy to oversee. Now it's difficult.


*Unpleasant one to fix :*
* when hitting the F1 button of the 'Help'button in any dialog box, I
expect relevant information, not a link to the KDE manual/ plasma widgets
section. I know this is a lot of work, but in the 21st century 'average
users' expect this anyway. Also, after all dialog boxes have been updated,
maintaining the consistency is relatively little work.


Ok, that's it. I understand some things are just my opinion, and may not
belong in this mailing list. ALso, some items may have been pointed out by
others, and could be existing/known bugs. Sorry for that. If you have any
comments on these points, I'm happy to discuss them

regards
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