Hey,
I've been thinking a lot lately (through my job) about adding options
to software. Personally, I try to avoid it, both at work and in my
personal projects, as feel they get in the way of the user being able
to understand how your app works, as well as adding more routes
through the code that need to be maintained.
There's a great article here
<http://www.joelonsoftware.com/uibook/chapters/fog0000000059.html> on
the subject.
This <https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nautilus/+bug/264816>
bug report got me thinking about how this applies to paper cuts.
Adding an option to an app may sound like an easy fix that satisfies
the largest number of people, but is it really going to satisfy more
people then the app would if it weren't added? Wouldn't it be a better
solution to design a work flow that didn't require an added option? Is
there really a demand for these options?
My question to you is: should requests to add options to app be
considered paper cuts? Personally I think they shouldn't, and we
should instead look at the underlying problem that got the person
asking for the option in the first place. I think we should also
remember that the paper cuts project exists to fix the issues
affecting the *majority of average users, *and a lot of options that
are requested will only be of any real interest to a minority of
users, not to mention the fact that average users don't usually
customise their computer in the first place.
What are people's thoughts in this?
Chris
