[tdf-discuss] Re: LibreOffice UI should be tweaked, not reinvented

Le 2010-11-03 17:28, Michel Gagnon a écrit :
Thanks Michel:

 It would be great if we improved the user interface in such a
> way that people would use styles and space before paragraphs rather than
> empty paragraphs,

Disclaimer: I am not too knowledgeable of the creation/use of styles.

Just a comment on styles. As I deal with mostly new and casual users, I 
have found that styles to these people are of little importance. When 
these two groups are given a quick introduction to styles, they usually 
abandon this effort early n the game. I somehow attribute this to the 
"3" rule *. Most people will retain steps in information only up to 3 
steps. Example: File->Open->click on file  If this rule were to be 
respected and the style configuration could be broken up in steps of "3 
steps to accomplish something". Then I think that for the casual user, 
at least would be able to accomplish creating some sort of style. The 
style process must be streamlined to lower the amount of steps required 
to achieve a particular result.

Just my take on styles.

* 3 steps. Try it out on your family members or try to notice this in 
your workplace. The general population can only absorb materials in 
"bunches" of 3's. The most difficult of which, following steps when 
learning how to complete a particular task that is completely unknown to 
that person. Once you get to the 4th step, most people will have 
forgotten some part of the first 3.

A more adept person will remember 4 steps or more.



> On the other hand, many people now use PowerPoint (and Impress), and
> quite frankly, both products need *a lot* of improvements. For instance,
> with Powerpoint, animations may be defined in the mask, but then they
> apply to ALL slides, or they have to be painstakingly defined slide by
> slide, one line at a time... There also are serious problems with the
> way films and sounds are linked in Powerpoint: they either have to be in
> the same folder or the link has to be an absolute one. So I think it
> would be relatively easy to upgrade Impress and make it better and
> easier to use than Powerpoint, and grab new users via the Impress module.

Agreed.

Background: In educational circles, a student graduating from grade 8 
(in Ontario, Canada) is expected to be proficient in Word, Powerpoint 
and Excel at a somewhat medium level. I usually start coordinate/help 
teaching the use of Word by grade 4; Powerpoint in grade 6; and usually 
Excel by grade 7; grade 8 students are expected to use these and start 
exploring more advanced notions.

Powerpoint has now gained quite a bit of ground in usage in comparison 
to Word. That is to say that being able to use both programmes by 
students at an acceptable level is quite a common expectation. Excel is 
still coming up short. Although, there is always a push in math circles 
for the use of Excel by students for simple graphing and spreadsheet 
solutions.

So, improving Impress' use of sound, video and animation would 
definitely make for a good contender to Powerpoint, The treatment of all 
three should be looked at a little close in order to improve their usage.

Marc


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