Why coders must not write UIs:

[theweaselking]

From here

Worst thing: There's a "pro mode" button on that dialog.

That being said, look at the window title. This, again, exemplifies *everything* I say about Linux programs and coding and documentation.

Comments

[zenten.livejournal.com]

I don't get the issue.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

You are part of the problem.

[zenten.livejournal.com]

Can you explain the problem? Is it font size too small, or not enough space between options, or too many options on one screen, or something else?

[jagash.livejournal.com]

It's the fact there are too many options and the options presented are not clear. If you need Computers 3 to use a GUI for a non-specialized task, there is a problem with the GUI.

[anivair.livejournal.com]

OTOH, I suspect that this is not a program that normal users would go at. Plenty of programs have a huge amount of complicated buttons that don't mean anything unless youj know what the program does and what the buttons actually do. Photoshop is a prime example and people love that piece of crap.

[jagash.livejournal.com]

Perhaps, but when it is easier to recode the gui yourself then try to understand the one used there is a problem.

[anivair.livejournal.com]

Agreed.

[corruptedjasper.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah, but photoshop also makes it reasonably obvious which buttons you can safely ignore as a newbie. For a better example, see MS Office, or for that matter XP itself.

The whole *point* of a gui for wget ought to be a no-frills, low-options, easy to use, integrated with the system version. This is the kind of gui that leads to people saying a CLI is easier to use than a GUI -- it *is*, when *that*'s the gui provided.

[anivair.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm not disagreeing. And I don't know enough about that program to say whether or not it's for beginners, but I'm learning blender3d right now and I know there are buttons and keystrokes gallore. But they're all nessisary to translate a 3 dimentional world and full control over it to the desktop. This might be similar.

[corruptedjasper.livejournal.com]

Wget is a pretty simple program, and you almost never need more than about 3 or 4 major options. It's fine to have more on other, non-main tabs.. but this is just ridiculous. Especially for the beginner's mode, given that there is an expert mode around as well.

[anivair.livejournal.com]

ouch. I take back my excuses then.

[torrain.livejournal.com]

It's early morning and I'm a little fuzzy on detacting sarcasm, but you *are* being sarcastic, right?

(In case you are not: imagine someone you care about who is not particularly good with computers. My mother is a decent example; she's not really bad with them[1], but she doesn't understand them.

(Imagine helpfully installing this on their computer and walking away.

(Then imagine them crying from frustration when they call you for an explanation.)
---
[1] Certainly not at the "What's written at the top of the screen? No, the *top* of the screen. Should be white text on a blue bar. No-- okay. Put your finger on the screen and run it up to the top. What's your finger resting on?" level.

[zenten.livejournal.com]

Maybe I am misunderstanding what this program should do, but it doesn't seem like something that a user like that would use.

[jagash.livejournal.com]

Um, that interface would make _me_ come close to cryng for mercy.