Re: [Ayatana] Sudoku: Let's try a heuristic usability evaluation

[Luke Morton <luke.morton@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 2010-05-10 at 00:13 +0200, Matthew Paul Thomas wrote: 
> Once you're done, reply here on ayatana@ with your list, and we'll see
> if we can collect some useful feedback. Have fun!

I did this without reading Jan-Christoph's response first. I fear I may
have gone a little overboard.


USER INTERFACE

Can't start a new game using a keyboard shortcut 
(flexibility and efficiency of use)

Can't bail-out from hints or notes using Esc
(consistency and standardsy/user control and freedom)

Undo/Redo are not supported when resuming a game
(user control and freedom)

Redo behaviour is different from other applications and can overwrite
the most recent changes. After moving back in the history (undo) and
making a modification, the redo list should be cleared.
(consistency and standards)

Redo does not need a label, its function can easily be inferred from its
association with Undo.
(aesthetic and minimalist design)

Undo and Redo remain active after completing a game
(visibility of system status)

Tracker label above the TreeView is unnecessary
(aesthetic and minimalist design)

Trackers cannot be removed
(user control and freedom)

Tracker icons are very large
(aesthetic and minimalist design)

Add Tracker and Clear Tracker shouldn't have icons
(aesthetic and minimalist design/consistency and standards)

Tracker colours on numbers are hard to discern because of the narrowness
of the numbers
(aesthetic and minimalist design)

Hinting doesn't work on a non-empty cell
(visibility of system status)

Hint remains active after the game is finished
(visibility of system status)

Clear Top Notes and Clear Bottom Notes remain active after a game is
finished
(visibility of system status)

Game finish statistics could be displayed in an overlay with a "New
Game" button to eliminate a dialog and answer the question "what do I do
now?"
(aesthetic and minimalist design)

Buttons in the number pad popup could be wider to make them easier to
click on when there's space available (it depends on the size of the
board)
(aesthetic and minimalist design/error prevention)

Buttons in the number pad popup should be dismissed when clicking
anywhere else in the frame (not just on other selectable squares on the
board)
(consistency and standards)

Hints (which may have been modified) are overwritten by "Show All
Possible Numbers" but not returned if it's unchecked.
(error prevention)

Save dialogs are unnecessary--just save all games (that the user
actually starts) by default.
(error prevention/aesthetic and minimalist design)

Provide an easy way to remove saved games (without having to open them
first).
(user control and freedom)

The distinction between notes and hints is not clear, nor is their
intended use (without reading the help)
(aesthetic and minimalist design/recognition)

Notes, Hints and Number click targets are not distinct
(aesthetic and minimalist design/recognition)

"Statistics..." should be "Statistics" (see HIG 4.3.2.1)
(consistency and standards)

"Print" button in "Print Multiple Sudukos" doesn't actually print, it
brings up another dialog. It should probably be "Print..." to match the
menu item.
(consistency and standards)

The background behind New Game and Save Game is a different colour from
the rest of the background. (This is theme dependant and probably the
result of being in a GtkNotebook or maybe a GtkFrame.)
(aesthetic and minimalist design)


HELP

The following all pertain to the Help file, which clearly hasn't been
updated yet.

Contains technical terms like "application" (The whole help could do
with a style edit to simplify the language used.)
(match between system and real world)

The program is referred to as "Sudoko" and "GNOME Sudoko" throughout
(consistency and standards/help and documentation)

Capitalisation for menu labels is inconsistent with UI (and HIG)
throughout
(consistency and standards/help and documentation)

Single-clicking will create a new game, but the help mentions
double-click (section 2.2)
(consistency and standards/help and documentation)

The border colours in Figure 1 do not match the UI, and neither does the
documentation (section 2)
(consistency and standards/help and documentation)

There is no Auto-Fill option in the UI (section 5)
(consistency and standards/help and documentation)

"Tools > Always show hint" should be "Settings > Show Possible
Numbers" (section 5.2.1)
(consistency and standards/help and documentation)

Figure 4 shows commas in a cell for the hints whereas the UI does not
(consistency and standards/help and documentation

Figures 5 and 6 do not match the UI
(consistency and standards/help and documentation)

Highlighter is not available in the toolbar, and is not located under
the View menu in the UI (section 5.3)
(consistency and standards/help and documentation)

Capitalisation for Tools > Track additions (and others) is wrong
(section 5.4)
(consistency and standards/help and documentation)

There is no "Clear Others" button in the UI (section 5.4)
(consistency and standards/help and documentation)

Figure 7 does not match the UI
(consistency and standards/help and documentation)