[openbeos] Re: Calculator still needed?
- From: Stephan Assmus <superstippi@xxxxxx>
- To: openbeos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 07 Oct 2006 15:38:16 +0200
On 2006-10-07 at 05:38:20 [+0200], DarkWyrm <darkwyrm@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> The current method is actually best because advanced users can hide the
> buttons and basic users can jump right in and click the buttons or
> enter them on the keypad. The problem with hiding buttons is that it
> also hides functionality. It's actually not a good thing that the only
> way to know that there is even a way to hide the buttons is by way of a
> popup menu accessible with the right mouse button. There are only two
> ways that you can know that it even exists: experiment (average users
> won't do this) or look it up in the documentation (average users rarely
> do this). I honestly didn't know about function syntax or what
> functions were available until I glanced at the sources and then did
> some playing around.
I absolutely agree about the hidden functionality, this needs to be
improved.
> > A sidenote on usability: my girlfriend watched me use DeskCalc, and
> > she loved it. As an example, for a user it is much more friendly to be
> able to get back to your previous equation (up arrow) and correct some
> mistake, than to have buttons "so you know what to do". Using the
> windows calculator to me is just frustrating in comparisson.
> Of course you would find it frustrating. You're an advanced user. My
> mother-in-law, who isn't one, wouldn't have the slightest clue about
> what to do with the compressed mode unless someone explained it to her
> and even then, she'd have problems.
You and others keep saying this, but I'm not convinced this is true. How do
you know that you need to use the keyboard to enter something into a text
control? How do you know that you can navigate the mouse cursor with the
mouse and click stuff? You need to learn some things in the beginning, and
as a programmer, you have to assume this basic knowledge is there. And then
my assertion is that if someone was "smart enough" to launch the Calculator
app in the firstplace, then (s)he should recognize the textcontrol within a
second as where to input the numbers, and that one is _obviously_ expected
to use the keyboard for that. Textcontrols are frequently used throughout
the entire operating system to enter stuff into, and as I said before, you
cannot assume on the one hand it is ok to have these everywhere, *only* on
the Calculator you need extra number buttons, otherwise beginners can not
figure out how to use them. I don't buy that. I have watched quite a few
people use computers, I have helped numerous people with computer problems.
Really, having no buttons on the calculator interface is *not* a problem,
maybe it will take someone having only seen the windows or mac calculator
an extra thought, but nothing more! The real usability problems are on a
different level, most commonly when software does not behave as you would
expect. For example, the other Calculator and also DeskCalc previously did
not recognize the ',' as a "decimal point". For many European users, this
is a pretty bad usability problem. And again, the "unforgiving" windows
calculator, where you can't get back to a previous equation and have to
retype everything, or cannot even navigate within the text you are
currently entering, *these* are usability problems, not "missing" buttons
that have no purpose in live other than to create some resemblence to a
real calculator.
> The Windows calculator uses a real-
> world calculator metaphor to make it immediately understood by everyone
> because it will be available for everyone. Personally, I'm not all that
> fond of the Windows calculator, either, but I don't know of too many
> people that can't figure out how to use it.
You launched the "Calculator", it has a calculator icon, plus it displays a
calculator icon besides the text control. This is enough to get the point
across.
Best regards,
-Stephan
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