gtg-contributors team mailing list archive

[meg ford <meg387@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,

My main point is that design needs to primarily be done by designers,
not users. That's all :)

Meg

On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 7:41 PM, Radina Matic <radina.matic@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I must admit I've never heard of "design by consensus", had to google it,
> learned something new (thanks, Meg! :) but I fail to see how it applies
> here... Here we are, mostly no native English speakers, trying to figure out
> the best expression for a GTG feature in English.
>
> Anyway, I didn't suggest that we let the users decide anything, but we
> certainly need a bigger pool of opinions to solve this issue. The poll
> suggestion was the first thing that came to my mind as a reply to Bertrand's
> comment that "Users formulate their need in their own way, we have to
> identify those and try to use them."
>
> So, how do we identify the user's needs without taking on their opinion in
> some form?
>
> R.
>
>
> On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 09:38, Bertrand Rousseau
> <bertrand.rousseau@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 8:30 AM, meg ford <meg387@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> > When I was looking at usability, one thing that struck me about workview
>> > was
>> > that tasks scheduled for other days days automagically disappear from
>> > it.
>> > IMO the user should somehow be informed of that by the name of the view,
>> > otherwise it's disconcerting.
>>
>> Could you please file a bug about this?
>>
>> > I think it's bad practice to design by consensus, though, so personally
>> > I
>> > wouldn't ask users to decide.
>>
>> I agree.
>>
>> > Meg
>> >
>> > On Monday, April 2, 2012, Radina Matic wrote:
>> >>
>> >> Meg seems to be the only native English speaker among us...
>> >>
>> >> How about we launch a poll at GTG blog and ask the users what do they
>> >> prefer?
>> >>
>> >> Cheers,
>> >> Radina
>> >>
>> >> PS: Apart from this legal connotation, for me personally "actionable"
>> >> is a
>> >> mouthful, like having to chew on an oversized gum... :P
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On Sun, Apr 1, 2012 at 22:27, meg ford <meg387@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>> "Actionable" is used in the book as an adjective ("Is it actionable?"
>> >>> p. 51 of the 2001 English edition), but as a title, you would be
>> >>> implying that it was a noun, which it is not. The primary meaning of
>> >>> the adjective is the legal meaning
>> >>> http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/actionable. Is there any
>> >>> place you see it used in the book as a noun? I see "Next Actions", and
>> >>> "actionable tasks" (as Bertrand mentioned) but not "Actionable". Also,
>> >>> "actionable tasks" is never used as a category or header in the book,
>> >>> perhaps because of the ambiguity surrounding this use of the English
>> >>> term.
>> >>>
>> >>> Meg
>> >>>
>> >>> On Sun, Apr 1, 2012 at 2:09 PM, Bertrand Rousseau
>> >>> <bertrand.rousseau@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> >>> > 2012/4/1 meg ford <meg387@xxxxxxxxx>:
>> >>> >> The primary definition of "Actionable"  in English a legal term
>> >>> >> meaning that
>> >>> >> you can get sued/criminally tried for doing what you are doing,
>> >>> >> though
>> >>> >> :)
>> >>> >
>> >>> > Well, we sure don't want to imply that our users perform tasks for
>> >>> > which they may be sued. ;-)
>> >>> >
>> >>> > I'm not an English native speaker, so as far as I am concerned, my
>> >>> > first encounter with the word "actionable" was through GTD and task
>> >>> > management. Could you (and anyone who knows) tell us if using this
>> >>> > term is misleading?
>> >>> >
>> >>> >> The timeline approach to simplifying complex tasks is outlined by
>> >>> >> Brett
>> >>> >> Victor in this article (http://worrydream.com/#!/MagicInk).
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> Meg
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> 2012/4/1 Izidor Matušov <izidor.matusov@xxxxxxxxx>
>> >>> >>>
>> >>> >>> Am 01.04.2012 06:15, schrieb meg ford:
>> >>> >>>
>> >>> >>>> Also, on the subject of subtasks, do you think it would be
>> >>> >>>> interesting
>> >>> >>>> to have a "Timeline" view where users could add and view subtasks
>> >>> >>>> as
>> >>> >>>> connected to specific tasks? Rather than defining them as a
>> >>> >>>> "thing",
>> >>> >>>> we
>> >>> >>>> could organize a larger task as consisting of smaller tasks, and
>> >>> >>>> combine
>> >>> >>>> it with the calendar function (so users would be adding and
>> >>> >>>> editing
>> >>> >>>> subtasks, maybe by drag and drop) along a line that contained the
>> >>> >>>> main
>> >>> >>>> task, and wouldn't have to use separate actions to define when,
>> >>> >>>> etc.
>> >>> >>>> I'm
>> >>> >>>> not sure how to accomplish this in GTK, but I think it would be
>> >>> >>>> nice
>> >>> >>>> to
>> >>> >>>> allow the user to define many aspects of their tasks simply,
>> >>> >>>> treating
>> >>> >>>> each task as an object rather something which is defined through
>> >>> >>>> a
>> >>> >>>> complicated series of  actions via drop-down menus, pop-up
>> >>> >>>> windows,
>> >>> >>>> etc.
>> >>> >>>
>> >>> >>>
>> >>> >>> There is a bug/feature request for that:
>> >>> >>>
>> >>> >>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/gtg/+bug/495475
>> >>> >>>
>> >>> >>> We need somebody who designs and implements that ;)
>> >>> >>>
>> >>> >>>
>> >>> >>>>    Can these actions be called "To Do"? That would go along with
>> >>> >>>> the
>> >>> >>>>    name (To Do and Task Manager), and the HIG says that strings
>> >>> >>>> should
>> >>> >>>>    be as short as possible.
>> >>> >>>
>> >>> >>>
>> >>> >>> I am against calling them "To Do". Every active task is "To Do"
>> >>> >>> but
>> >>> >>> we
>> >>> >>> want to say that you can do it right now. In my opinion, we should
>> >>> >>> stick to
>> >>> >>> "Actionable" from GTD or "Next Action" from other ToDo managers.
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >
>> >>> >
>> >>> >
>> >>> > --
>> >>> > Bertrand Rousseau
>> >>>
>> >>> _______________________________________________
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>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Bertrand Rousseau
>
>