unity-design team mailing list archive

[Jo-Erlend Schinstad <joerlend.schinstad@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 28 August 2011 01:09, Stefanos A. <stapostol@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> To them, printing translates into "click the File menu, select "Print",
> click "Ok" and wait for the paper to come out. They are people who don't

Ok, so they are able to show a hidden menu by clicking a text label, but they
are incapable of moving the pointer to the top of the screen? That is very
difficult for me to understand.

> know the difference between the "minimize" and "close" buttons. Tell them to
> open a new program and they ask you whether they should close all other
> windows first. And should they meet a program without a File menu, they will
> call you for help (how do I print in this new Office/IE/Firefox thing?)
> I dread the moment I will be forced to upgrade any of them from 10.04 to
> Unity with its invisible menus and window controls. It's a disaster waiting
> to happen.

Yes, and the same fear was extremely loud when the buttons were moved
from right to left. People were screaming that they would now have to switch
to Windows, because it would be impossible to explain that the buttons was
now on the left of the screen. Very similar to the current discussion that
users will not be able to move the mouse to the top of the screen.

> What can I say. Personally, I won't have difficulty adapting to the new
> system, as I didn't have with the global menus (despite their problems on
> Linux, where they are window-based instead of application-based) or the
> "buttons on left" change. However, I know very well indeed that people do
> have genuine difficulty adapting to these wanton changes. If there is any
> will left to support such users in Ubuntu, we will have to be a little more
> careful than dismissing valid questions with "I can't believe anyone would
> have a problem with this".

Well, you are assuming that I haven't tested this on incredibly inexperienced
computer users. That assumption is wrong. Helping inexperienced users
has been a hobby of mine since 1995. That's more than fifteen years. I
have never met anyone who couldn't be taught to click the start button in
Windows or to click the buttons on the window decorator to close and
minimize windows.

Most people are even able to use websites, which is far more difficult.

Jo-Erlend Schinstad