KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review January 28, 2008
Prepared by: Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org) KDE Usability Project
Overview
Review of KDE Installer for Windows version 0.8.5
Expert interface review based on well known heuristics and interface/interaction design best practices
Overall there were a lot of minor interface issues which should be quick and easy to fix
There were several more severe interface issues which will require a higher coding effort than the minor issues and some discussion on how to fix them
Suggestions on how to fix many of the interface issues are included
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Additional Notes
The Basic Setup (screen 2) and Download Settings (screen 4) could probably be merged in to a single screen.
The same application interface tries to be both the installation wizard and the package manager. Many users may miss this. Even if it is the same code, separating the executables in to two files (KDE Installation, KDE Package Management) could make this more obvious.
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
KDE for Windows Installer Screen 1
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Screen title does not have to be bold, the large size is enough to set the text off as a title.
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
A text box is not necessary for instructions, they can be in the main part of the dialog (like the Release number).
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
If you decide to keep the text box, consider adding padding inside the box to make it look nicer. (Currently the text is flush to the border)
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Be consistent in labeling and terminology. Consider relabeling this information as “Version 0.8.5” (the same as it appears in the window title bar).
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
The Back and Finish buttons do not need to be visible on this first page. Controls are only disabled when they can be available in an interface, but some condition has not yet been met. In the case of this screen, the condition to go Back and the condition to Finish can never be met, so they can be removed.
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Windows uses the OK/Cancel button order. Consider switching positions with Cancel and Next >
About
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Next >
Cancel
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Currently, if a user clicks Cancel during the installation process, when they start it again, it resumes at the last visited screen. Cancel should quit the application. It provides the functional expectation that all settings are reset and they can try again. When the user resumes the install process, it should return to this screen. After the user has completed the installation process, the package management screens can be shown. KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Basic Setup Screen 2
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
The size of the dialog box went from 439 wide to 763 wide (and changes again in later screens). If possible, set a static size for the dialog, the largest being 800x600. KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Consider changing this label to a more commonly used phrase: “Installation Directory”
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
This button should be labeled “Browse...”
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Radio buttons should be displayed in a vertical list. Unspecified should be capitalized. KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
The tooltip information for these options seem to be very important for making the correct selection. Consider pulling the tooltip information out of the mouse over tooltip and putting it directly in the dialog where the user will easily notice.
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Is this option available or only a place hold until the functionality exists? Consider removing this option until it is implemented. “Start Menu” should be two words and capitalized. Consider the following (or similar) wording “Create Start Menu shortcut for KDE” KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Button order should be About, Back, Next, Cancel.
About
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
< Back
Next >
Cancel
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Select Proxy Settings Screen 3
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Proxy settings can occur in any software which connects to the Internet, so it is good to use labels which are commonly used and users will recognize. Consider changing the proxy option labels to the following: ● I have a direct connection to the Internet ● Use Internet Explorer connection settings ● Use Firefox connection settings ● Manual proxy configuration
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Download Settings Screen 4
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Not sure how useful the Settings button is, because it is only available after the installation is started, exited, and started again. The dialog seems to be going for the “wizard” approach, so the allinone configuration dialog does not fit. See the section about Installer Settings for more comments.
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
If the packages to be downloaded are only necessary for the installation and do not need to be saved, consider defaulting to the environment $TEMP or $TMP directory. Otherwise, create a directory inside the installation directory (e.g. $INSTALL_DIR\packages\). The user can always change the location.
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
This button should be labeled “Browse...”
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Capitalize Use and Cygwin. Consider using the phrase “(Cygwin style)” or “(similar to Cygwin)”. Otherwise, it should be “(Cygwinlike)”.
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Nested directory tree means to place every downloaded file in to a separate subdirectory. For example, the file dbus1.2.3bin.zip would be places in to a subdirectory named dbus/dbus1.2.3. If this option is not checked, all downloaded files are placed directly in to the package download path.
Since there is so much space in this dialog, consider placing the useful—but hidden—tooltip information where the user can easily read it. Also note several spelling corrections: subdirectory, in to, checked.
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Select Mirror Screen 5
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Can the term “server” be used instead of “mirror”? There is a small semantic difference, but using a common term will help uninformed users feel more comfortable.
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
This button label should have an ellipsis “Add Mirror...”
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Consider reorganizing the drop down box by country, region, URL. Mirrors are often selected by their geographic proximity, especially if most users are not familiar with the mirror host. This will also make the alphabetical organization of the list more obvious. Example: North America, United States (kde.mirrors.tds.net)
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
The dialog box could be a little larger. It will provide more room for a longer input box for the URL and make the buttons not look offcentered by accident.
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
The package list progress bar should not be appended to the Select Mirror page, but on its own page or appended to the Package Selection page.
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Package Selection Screen 6
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
This and the following screens break from the previous dialog layout with the dialog title, short description, beveled line, then content. Consider following the same style throughout the wizard. Suggested title for this screen could be “Package Selection”. Instructions can help clarify what the user needs to do in this screen.
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
This should probably say “Package”. Could the term “Categories” be used instead of Groups?
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Is the environment checkbox being used or is this a custom checkbox widget? It looks too small and the wrong color. Consider using the environment's checkbox widget.
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
The separate text box for the package description disassociates it from the Packet groups list. This information can be in the gray dialog area (as subtext to the tree widget box).
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Not sure if this functionality of the screen is bugged. The extra package information pane only displayed for some packages. For the packages which did have the extra information tabs, the tabs did not always display. Also, only Dependencies information was shown, the Description and Files tabs were never enabled. Consider always displaying this extra package information pane and disabling it when no information is available. If there is no Description or Files information at all, remove the tabs until that extra information is implemented..
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Additional Required Packages Screen 7
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
A title, short description, and beveled line should be included in this screen to match it to the rest of the wizard. Consider the title “Additional Required Packages”, and then describe why these extra packages have been selected for installation.
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Make good use of dialog space and make the list box expand to the entire window. The blank space makes it look like something is missing.
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Download Packages Screen 7
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
To keep consistent with the other dialog screen layouts, consider using the title Downloading Packages with a short description and beveled line.
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
The size of the dialog changed again, apparently to try and fit the name of a very long package. The size of the dialog should remain consistent in size (largest size should be 800x600). Consider combining an ellipsis cutoff of long strings and a tooltip to provide the entire string for the user if necessary.
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
There is a package progress indicator for the single package currently being downloaded, but not an overall progress indicator. Double progress bars (one for overall and one for the current file) are sometimes confusing, so instead consider adding information about the progress of the total number of packages. Example: Downloading package 56 out of 108: http://...
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Installation Finished Screen 8
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Change dialog title to the same style as previous dialogs. Consider using the title “Installation Complete”.
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Consider separating the installation wizard functionality from the postinstallation package management functionality. Conceptually, these are two very different tasks. During the installation process, install another executable shortcut called “KDE Windows Package Management” which links to package manager version of the application.
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
The Finish button is correctly shown here. It should not be visible in the other screens.
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Is there a way to uninstall KDE or delete unwanted packages? This seems like an essential functionality which would help build user's trust (“I can always uninstall it”). KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Installer Settings Screen 9
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
The Installer Settings dialog should only be available in the package management version of the application.
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Many of the previous UI suggestions for each of the groups can apply to this dialog..
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
If you decide to separate installation from package management, this button could be removed from the Installer version of the application and only visible in the Package management version.
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)
Questions? Celeste Lyn Paul celeste@kde.org KDE Usability Project
KDE for Windows Installer Expert Review
Celeste Lyn Paul (celeste@kde.org)