Fwd: Re: [imp] Attachment interface confusing to users

[Eric Rostetter]

Quoting Edward Glowacki <glowack2@msu.edu>:

> On Mon, 2002-06-24 at 12:04, Chuck Hagenbuch wrote:
> > I think this was meant for the list. For what it's worth, the context-
> > specific help works perfectly for me in HEAD. In this very window that I'm 
> > writing the message in, in fact. If it doesn't work for you, then you 
> > probably have a bad language preference set.
> 
> Glad you forwarded it, hope Eric doesn't mind! =)
 
Not at all -- it was indeed meant for the list...

> Agreed, fixing is a correct answer, and the fact that it was broken did
> heavily contribute to my wanting to remove them.  I guess the icons
> *are* fairly unobtrusive, so leaving them in shouldn't be much of a
> distraction to the interface.  Also, a brief glance at our server logs
> does indicate that users use them as an entry point to the help system,
> which definitely helps the argument for leaving them in... =) The
> flipside is if help isn't accessed that much, then the extra step to get
> to it might not be a problem.  

People hate to read any more than they have to.  Extra steps or additional
(non-relavent to the problem at hand) reading will turn them off of using
the help at all, which makes more of a burden on your support staff).

It is fixed now in CVS HEAD, so that is no longer an issue.

-- 
Eric Rostetter
The Department of Physics
The University of Texas at Austin

"TAD (Technology Attachment Disorder) is an unshakable, impractical devotion
to a brand, platform, product line, or programming language. It's relatively
harmless among the rank and file, but when management is afflicted the damage
can be measured in dollars. It's also contagious -- someone with sufficient
political clout can infect an entire organization."

--"Enterprise Strategies" columnist Tom Yager.