User Interface - Rules of Thumb

These are some basic rules that apply to nearly every piece of software, but are good to keep in mind for the file manager.

Avoid exposing the implementation internals to the user interface. For example, use the term Removable media to refer to (a subset) of the fstab entries, rather than using the term Fstab in the user interface. Many users do not know (and do not care) about /etc/vfstab or /etc/fstab.

Avoid so-called unbreak my software-options, and any other kind of useless option. The perfect world just works; but, since we don’t live in a perfect world, we need a few basic options. Still, just works is the way to go.

While this sounds obvious, only a few OSS hackers ever pay attention to this rule. The following short declaration sums up the basic problem (discovered on PlanetGNOME):

Beginners are, by necessity, task-oriented. It is very hard for us techies to understand beginners, not because we know the stuff well, but because we’re professional learners who have evolved a highly efficient personal learning methodology without even thinking about it. Our tendency is to present facts and examples. We structure information the way we would like it, not the way the user needs it.