Change "Apply"+"Cancel"+"OK" to "Reset"+"Apply Changes"

mpt just pointed me to http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gup/hig/2.0/controls-buttons.html
Basically says the same thing, but the other url was pointing to the alert-specific guidelines.

I see some objections: At first g-a-i ist not a dialog nor an instant apply application. It is an explicit apply window. See the following link for the suggested GNOME layout of an explicit apply window:

http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gup/hig/2.0/windows-utility.html#windows-explicit-apply

The g-a-i main dialog is far more complex than a simple dialog, in which you only have to choose between two alternative actions. You can change the virtual "installed" status of any app and then apply the changes to the reality of your system. So "install" doesn't really cover the whole concept.

"Revert" or "Reset": you don't reset the apps on your system, since you haven't changed anything before hitting "apply","ok" or "install". You just cancel the installation/removal process. The term cancel is well known by the user: he or she knows if she or he did something crazy, he or she would just have to click on cancel to abort this. I don't see a reason to remove this familarity from the user interface.

Futhermore there is "revert" for instant apply windows. Take a look at the software-properties main dialog. These two terms and concepts should not be mixed.

By the way as a result of my review, I removed the button "advanced" some time ago, since it created too much confusion.

g-a-i should not be part of synaptic. Different tools for different needs. The goal should be to remove synaptic and its complexity out of the sight of the average user. Synaptic is/should be a power user tool.

I think that many user hit apply and ok since they want to be sure that there changes have been applied correctly. The "apply" action returns to the main window and so gives the user the chance to react [the fact that ok doesn't return to main window in the case of an failure is a bug].

And also consider the poor modem users: the really need the apply button, since they devide big installations into smaller parts. If you remove apply they would have to restart the app several times. So I think it is a clear regression in this point.

Finally we should try to have a consistent desktop. Take a look at the "background" properties. The "finish" button is a result of Novell's usability overriding desktop conventions. So if the HIG is insuffcient it should be fixed upstream. I should really fill a bug about this ...

The problem of the duplication of apply and ok is perhaps the missing feedback from the application. The user feels unsure if his or her changes have been applied correctly. If you click on apply at first, you get the chance to control the changes easily.

Personally I don't like the generic "ok" too.

Here is the upstream "discussion":

http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=334947

Oh, wow, that HIG page is pretty bong. Making complete programs behave like dialogs? What did they think they were doing?

OK, I guess this problem needs to be fixed in the HIGs. :-)

I already wrote an email to the GNOME usability list about finish/close.

The decision to make gnome-app-install a dialog was made by the developers and not by the authors of the HIG.

But I think that is ok to use the dialog style. Since all capplets are dialogs. Furthermore I would regard it as a preferences dialog of the desktop.

Using a full blown app window also adds a lot of complexity to the application. When I started my review of g-a-i we had a mixed situation: It had elemets of both, dialog and app window.

I became aware of this usability problem when I asked my sister to install an application : she was wondering whether she had to click on "Apply" or "OK".
I suggest "Apply" / "Revert" / "Finish" on the right and "Help" on the left.

Well, "Apply" / "Revert" / "Close" may be better, where "Apply" and "Revert" do not close the window.

I'd say you don't need Revert/Cancel at all. Simply have "Apply" and "Close".

@Matthew:

Close is used in instant apply dialogs since you don't need to confirm/mark changes before. So it would be quite confusing to the user.

@Colpompidou:

Revert resets the state of the system as when the application was started. So we would have to remove applications that have been installed in the meantime ...

Perhaps we should consider changing gnome-app-install into an application.

Since nobody seems to be thinking about turning gnome-app-install into a full blown application and not "only" a preferences dialog of the desktop, I close this bug.

I don't think that it is bad if users hit the apply/ok button additionally. I have often seen this behavior of users in other applications too and it is ok if it helps the user to feel more confident in using the computer.

The real problems are the bad/missing synaptic exit state handling and a missing changes view. Adding both will improve the explicit apply handling a lot.

The problem is actually that gksu does not pass on the exit states. Synaptic is giving useful exit information.