battery plasmoid and remaining time..

[David Nolden]

Am Donnerstag 14 Mai 2009 17:32:56 schrieb Aaron J. Seigo:
> On Thursday 14 May 2009, David Nolden wrote:
> but our calculation will still be wrong. and that's a cardinal rule: the
> user is allowed to get it wrong. the computer can't without diminishing
> trust in the system. lower trust translates to lower enjoyment and less
> value placed in the system.
Sure, but if the system makes clear that it is just a guess, then the user 
will still be happy that he didn't have to guess by himself.

> > In the end, the user will calculate the remaining time anyway, but at
> > least with working drivers, our calculation will be a lot better.
> >
> > We shouldn't give disadvantage to the user just to make ourselves look
> > better.
>
> it's not about us looking better, it's about allowing the user trust the
> system.
>
> is there really 30 minutes of battery left? no.
> is it really 15% charged? yes.
Yes maybe, but to the average user the percentage will be a near useless 
number.

> which one leads the user to trust that the system offers correct
> information and can therefore be trusted and even pay a bit less attention
> / be less mentally concerned about it?
>
> all the user will care about the 30 minutes is that they eventually learn
> it isn't really accurate and so they can't really trust the system.
Ok but if it's made clear, like "At current usage, ca. 30 minutes remaining", 
then you've made clear to the user that it is no exact value, but still you've 
given him much more useful information then by telling him just the 
percentage.

The user will learn whether he can trust that guess or not. If not, he will 
probably do his own transformation on the number, like 30 minutes -> 15 
minutes, but that's an easier operation than guessing it only from the 
percentage.

It's essentially the same as the guessed times for file-system operations. 
They are not exact, still you're very happy to have them (At least I am). Only 
a _real_ geek can do a good guess by himself ;-)

Greetings, David