Hi!
I'll mix answers to segfault, Michael and Teqleez in a single mail.
segfault:
> I don't like the idea of removing favorites which we had for a very
> long time. It forces users to change their workflow, and there is no
> easy way for them to change it back, because we don't have a
> persistence preset for the favorite apps. This seems like bad UX.
>
> IMO, if we want to remove apps from the favorites list, we should also
> support to customize it.
I kindly disagree :)
For me, the Favorites submenu is most of all a discovery tool for new
users and a convenient shortcut for returning users. So if an
application in there is only seldomly used by our user base at large,
it's a benefit for everybody else to remove it and simplify the list.
Unfortunately, we don't have data about which apps are more used so we
can't really make good decisions based on data here. We could use our
personas but I'm afraid to run into unsolvable debates regarding whether
their would use Pidgin or Thunderbird for example.
I also don't want to block improving this list until we have a way of
customizing it because I think that it will be technically complicated,
controversial (intrigeri really wants to get rid of this whole
Applications menu), and way less important than other things that we
want to persist (starting with Keyboard and Language). In other words,
I don't think that supporting customization of this menu should be a
priority for the near future.
But I'm fine with not removing anything for the time being if it makes
it easier to move this discussion forward.
The list could become:
- Tor Browser
- Configure persistent volume (new)
- Tails documentation (new)
- Report an Error (new)
- Tails Installer (new)
- Thunderbird
- KeePassXC
- Pidgin Internet Messenger
- Terminal
- Files
Total 10, which still fits without displaying a scroll bar.
Because the scroll bar appears at 11 items, a downside of this list is
that it won't allow us to also use this menu to showcase recent new
features, which I hope we could do. For example, I think that our work
on VeraCrypt would have had more impact if we included "Unlock VeraCrypt
volumes" in the Favorites during 1 year or so.
Michael Gerstacker via Tails-ux:
> If it should be pre-build:
>
> 1. Should it be "a place to start and learn dealing with Tails" for
> new users who dont already know for what they want to use Tails?
>
> 2. Should it be filled with the software which is used by most users?
> If yes how do you measure that or is it okay to guess it?
We don't measure any of this but it could be an objective for a survey
on the website, which is something I've been willing to do for a while.
> 3. Should it be filled with the things which are unique in Tails?
>
> I personally think if Tails want to offers a pre-built "Favorites"
> section and IF it should countain only one of my three "buckets" then
> it should be bucket 3 because these are Tails favorites.
I think that all of you 3 bucket are relevant and can be included.
> I think i like that if the decision is that it should contain
> something of all three buckets.
+1
> The only thing i personally would think about removing it would be
> Thunderbird because you anyway need to configure it first.
> I dont see a big positive impact in adding it to the Favorites because
> its not bucket 3 and i dont think a user who does not plan to use
> Thunderbird will start using and configuring it just because it is in
> the Favorite section so it seem to not fit in bucket 1 too.
I am very curious about how many of our users use Thunderbird, in
comparison with Pidgin or Electrum for example :) I'm also curious how
many of our users would have a good reason to use Thunderbird but do not
because they never used an email client. It's one of the reasons why I
like keeping Thunderbird in the list: it might teach some users that
they could use it.
> KeePassXC is probably something if he is not already using it a user
> could start using just because he got curious and found it in the
> "Favorites" so it could fit in bucket 1 and Tor Browser is the feature
> for what Tails is famous and is probably used by nearly everyone so i
> see a difference to Thunderbird.
I agree and I see Thunderbird a bit like KeePassXC in this respect :)
> Rationale:
> I never really understood why exactly these two icons are on the
> desktop too and getting rid of them was one of my thoughts too:)
:)))
> Adding favorites could have kind of the same influence on users
> changing their workflow. Both could have a positive impact or a
> negative.
Yep. I see that you agree with all my removals but since segfault
disagrees, I propose to keep them for now. What do you think?
Teqleez Motley:
> If no customization is possible, IMO this menu should be renamed to "featured" or the like.
Why not.
@segfault: How hard would it be to change the title of this submenu?
> 2. Menu filter and descriptive menu item names:
> Both for visibility, for newcomers and efficiency (filtering), I think the menu should have a search filter at the top, which would filter among the menu items and even among all the possible software file names in "bin" etc. The "match" should be against both sotware file names but also against any parts of the menu titles.
I'm afraid that this new feature would be quite some work to implement,
so I'd rather not consider it for now.
> For example, the "KeepassXC" could be named "KeepassXC password manager", both to make it more obvious for newcomers, but also to make a filter on "password" find it. Likewise, "Thunderbird" could be renamed to "Thunderbird email client", and GtkHash to "GtkHash checksum tool"
I like this idea. Some apps already do so "Pidgin Internet Messenger"
but not all of them. I wonder whether it's worth reporting bugs upstream
about this or whether diverging from the Debian package would be costly
in terms of maintenance.
@segfault: Any clue on this?
Here is a list of the apps I could spot but don't have transparent names:
- Dasher
→ Dasher Text Input System
- Brasero
→ Brasero CD/DVD Burner
- Sound Juicer
→ Sound Juicer CD Ripper
- Audacity
→ Audacity Sound Editor
- OnionShare
→ OnionShare File Sharing
- Thunderbird
→ Thunderbird Email Client
- KeePassXC
→ KeePassXC Password Manager
- Inkscape
→ Inkscape Image Editor
- GtkHash
→ GtkHash Checksum Calculator
--
sajolida
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