On Tue, Sep 12, 2006 at 03:50:12PM +0100, John Levon wrote: > On Tue, Sep 12, 2006 at 11:32:44AM +0200, Helge Hafting wrote: > > > Please tell - what is the problem with File->Save? Logically, > > saving is an operation on a file. What do you want instead, > > document->save? Or something completely different? > > I can only point you to "About Face", a pretty excellent book about UI > design. But the fundamental problem is that File->Save is exposing the > wrong mental model to the user, and is strictly unnecessary. > Well, taking a look at that book might be a good idea, thanks for the tip. See if the library can get it.
I don't get the part about mental models though. Documents are stored in files - and the users know that. It isn't a model - it is how this computer stuff actually happen on a low level. Not that low a level actually - so many people understands this well enough. Perhaps the wording could be better, but the functionality is useful. Saving is *often* unnecessary because the app should do that when you close it anyway. But sometimes I want to save something so I can mail a copy off somewhere, then keep working on it. So I don't want to close and reopen. And I don't want to fill lyx up with "mail it, scp it, ftp it ..." either. I can't see how to do this without a "save". Now, if we could outlaw message boxes, modal dialogs, and apps that do too much in a single process . . . Helge Hafting
