[LAU] An appeal to famous artists?

[Emanuel Rumpf]

2011/8/7 Fons Adriaensen <fons at linuxaudio.org>:
> On Sun, Aug 07, 2011 at 06:09:16PM +0800, Simon Wise wrote:
>
>> 1/ Allow someone opening up an application for the first time to click
>> around and discover what it might be able to do before they start looking
>> at any manuals.
>>
>> 2/ Allow someone who uses it everyday to do the things they do frequently
>> as quickly and ergonomically as possible, assuming they have already
>> spent some time learning the system.
>>
>>
>> The first helps sales, and without it many people won't look further
>
> Indeed. But so what ? If a potential user doesn't look further then
> (s)he is probably just browsing to kill time and boredom, and doesn't
> need the application at all. What can I, as a developer, expect from
> such a 'user' ? Why should I even spend a second of my time to please
> anyone who is not motivated at all ?
>

Hm.

Depending on existing knowledge, the amount of
time required to understand an application can largely vary.
I wouldn't call an un-experienced unmotivated.

Usability (better: user-friendlyness ) is about supporting the learning process.

About 12 years ago, I've been someone who did a hardware-reset,
in order to quit vi (text-editor).
That tool didn't give a hint how to use, nor how to quit it.
Changing that would have been simple and had had no influence on functionality.

I think this applies to many applications:
You can do 2/ but still support a new user getting there,
without too much hassle.


-- 
E.R.