[KDE Usability] Re: Display Management Design

[todd rme]

On Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 3:34 PM, Moritz Hobe <m.o at online.de> wrote:
> I'm not part of the official usability task force,

Neither am I.

> To me, that red cross looks like that  screen is broken/not working/not
> available (e.g. due to missing drivers) which of course is unfortunate.
> A green check is always nice, telling the user "You did the right thing, it is
> working". That yellow star however does not show whether this screen is
> properly running or some kind of "favourite display" (whatever that may be)
> which yet needs to be activated.
>
> Also the switch "Primary | Enabled | Disabled" is strange to me.
> It implies that there is a fundamental difference between "Enabled" and
> "Primary", like there's a third state in between "On" and "Off".
> I personally find that confusing. It also forces you to decide something you1717
> may have no knowledge about ("What is the difference between Enabled and
> Primary?") at a point you may not care about ("Just turn that thing on!").
> Selecting a different monitor and putting it into Primary mode will
> automagically change the previous primary to "Enabled". I know there is no way
> of avoiding this as there can only be one primary screen, but a simple
> checkbox wouldn't be this intrusive.

Valid points.  Another possibility for each screen would be to have
two tools, a simple checkbox next to the name to enable/disable, and a
star next to the name for "set primary".

> Additional settings like DPI or colour profiles seem quite hidden to me but
> that may be different once it's actually implemented in Qt.

They are supposed to be, those are not things anyone but advanced
users should be messing with.  Another possibility would be to have a
wrench or gear button, which either brings up a menu or a separate
config dialog.  Would that be clearer?

-Todd