[rkward] [Bug 358942] New: Usability: Package search in installation dialog does not provide status feedback

[d_jan]

Totally agree on the problem and as well with the suggestion of
providing an activity indicator to show that nothing crashed, behaves
strange or does something else unwanted, but just needs more time :)

Thanks Aaron for summarizing the usability problem(s) around the current
state.

Jan

Am 03.02.2016 um 09:53 schrieb Thomas Friedrichsmeier via KDE Bugzilla:
> https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=358942
> 
>             Bug ID: 358942
>            Summary: Usability: Package search in installation dialog does
>                     not provide status feedback
>            Product: rkward
>            Version: unspecified
>           Platform: Other
>                 OS: Linux
>             Status: UNCONFIRMED
>           Severity: normal
>           Priority: NOR
>          Component: User Interface
>           Assignee: rkward-devel at kde.org
>           Reporter: thomas.friedrichsmeier at ruhr-uni-bochum.de
>              Flags: Usability+
> 
> Aaron reports:
> 
> Also, this is something I just remembered that bugs me: You put your search
> term in the "show packages matching" text field, and then seemingly nothing
> happens. In older versions, the drop-down arrows in the list to the left
> would disappear if nothing was returned for that search term, leaving only
> "New Packages" in the case of a new install. Now nothing happens and you
> have to go searching in them.
> 
> However, even with the old behavior, many people, even me, instinctively
> just hit "enter" after putting in the search term, which just dismisses the
> dialog completely.
> 
> I think it would be easier if either the relevant packages would display on
> the left (i.e., the relevant section would expand itself to display the
> package), so that the user knew something had happened, and/or the search
> is not begun until the user hits enter/return.
> 
> What would also really help would be a little activity indicator next to
> the search box. One of these guys:
> 
> https://cdn3.iconfinder.com/data/icons/pictofoundry-pro-vector-set/512/LoadingIndicator-512.png
> 
> Right now there is no feedback whatsoever to tell the user that something
> is happening. This is especially confusing since you don't really go in
> here that often. You do it once when you need something, maybe struggle
> with it, but ultimately get what you need, and do your analysis, never to
> think about it again. Since it's not a part of the program that people use
> that much, it needs to be super-clear on how it works, I think.
> 
> ---Session Info---
> -- Frontend --
> RKWard version: 0.6.4z+0.6.5+devel1
> KDE version (runtime): 4.14.13
> KDE version (compile time): 4.14.13
> Qt build key: x86_64 linux g++-4 full-config
> Local KDE directory: /home/thomas/.kde/
> RKWard storage directory: /home/thomas/.rkward/
> Backend version (as known to the frontend): 3.2.2
> 
> Debug message file (this may contain relevant diagnostic output in case of
> trouble):
> /tmp/rkward.frontend.j19881
> 
> -- Backend --
> Debug message file (this may contain relevant diagnostic output in case of
> trouble):
> /tmp/rkward.rbackend.J19887
> 
> R version (compile time): 3.2.2  (2015-08-14 r69053)
> R runtime session info:
> R version 3.2.2 (2015-08-14)
> Platform: x86_64-pc-linux-gnu (64-bit)
> Running under: Ubuntu 15.10
> 
> locale:
>  [1] LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8          LC_NUMERIC=C                 
>  [3] LC_TIME=de_DE.UTF-8           LC_COLLATE=en_US.UTF-8       
>  [5] LC_MONETARY=de_DE.UTF-8       LC_MESSAGES=C                
>  [7] LC_PAPER=de_DE.UTF-8          LC_NAME=de_DE.UTF-8          
>  [9] LC_ADDRESS=de_DE.UTF-8        LC_TELEPHONE=de_DE.UTF-8     
> [11] LC_MEASUREMENT=de_DE.UTF-8    LC_IDENTIFICATION=de_DE.UTF-8
> 
> attached base packages:
> [1] stats     graphics  grDevices utils     datasets  methods   base     
> 
> other attached packages:
> [1] rkward_0.6.3
> 
> loaded via a namespace (and not attached):
> [1] tools_3.2.2
>