I'm gonna be really picky on this one. Have you ever counted the number of clicks you make to turn off your computer? If not, I'm gonna count it for you in this post!<1>
Let's compare the number of clicks one has to make in Windows Vista, Mac OS X Leopard and Ubuntu Linux v7.10 to turn off the computer. I chose Windows Vista and Mac OS X Leopard as they are the latest versions of the operating systems Microsoft and Apple have introduced, and Ubuntu as it's supposed to be the most user friendly Linux in the market[1].
This scenario assumes there's only one user logged in and that the classic shut down menu is not enabled (which is the default setting for windows).
Windows Vista:
Click #1: You click on the Start Menu
Click #2: Click on the arrow next to Lock Button
Click #3: Click on the Shut Down in the pop-up menu
Windows Vista Start menu
Ubuntu Linux v7.10:
Click #1: Click on the System Menu
Click #2: Click on Quit... in the pop-up menu
Click #3: Click on Shut Down on the logout dialogue box
Ubuntu System menu
Ubuntu Logout dialogue box
Windows Vista Start menuUbuntu Linux v7.10:
Click #1: Click on the System Menu
Click #2: Click on Quit... in the pop-up menu
Click #3: Click on Shut Down on the logout dialogue box
Ubuntu System menu
Ubuntu Logout dialogue boxMac OS X Leopard:
Click #1: Click on the Apple Menu
Click #2: Click on Shut Down... in the pop-up menu
Apple MenuI know in this context one click wont kill anybody or save up that much energy to help stop global warming for a greener Earth (it might actually do!<2>), but it's not just about that extra one click, it's about how one designs the software. So the message is: think usability, every click counts!
Notes:
Notes:
<1> In this post I have counted only the necessary primary steps to shut down the computer and excluded any optional actions.
<2> If each click take 1 second, just multiply that into the number of computer users. That's like millions of seconds per shut down which saves millions of seconds of electrical power.
Refs:
[1] Ubuntu wins the Most User Friendly Linux Distribution Award: http://www.ubuntu.com/news/MostUserFriendlyAward
9 comments:
i dont click to shut down my pc,i just press its power buttom(if it called so,cause its 5 a.m and i am still awake).I do think usable not waiting people to design it usable for me!
Hi Parham, Thanks for your comment.
Of course there are different ways to turn off a computer (pressing the power button, keyboard shortcuts, running a command, etc) So what you do is just another way to do the same task.
But the idea of this post is not about that. It's about the design of the primary method to turn off the computer which is used by the majority of people. And if you think you do not need the designers to bring usability to you please note that the very fact that you can turn off your computer by pressing the power button is because the designers thought of that method and added the feature to the system.
Also note that pressing the power button will not necessarily result in shutting down the computer, for example in Windows 98 that would just cut the power, in Windows Vista it would put your computer into sleep mode and if you're on a Mac it would bring up the Power Management dialogue box.
So you see how the same task can be done in different methods (which is a good aspect) and how following same methods can result in different outcomes (which usually is not a good thing).
dear mehdi
I really enjoyed the idea of your article and i dint mean to criticis your brilliant idea.
I just wanted to show that some people feel comfortable with that 3 clicks because it makes them to think more and avoid mistakes(like my father).for others like me thers is another option to be quick.3 clicks option of xp and vista to 1 press of power botton which has also designed to shut it down is a wide RANGE of options for comfort and i think giving more options without any visual complivations is damn user friendly.
I bet your father would still prefer to shut down his computer with two clicks rather than three clicks ;) the aim should be to make each and every method as easy as possible. BTW I would love the readers to criticize my articles and viewpoints, that leads into discussions like this and helps both the parties gain more knowledge.
If you click on the red button - the one next to the lock - that shut downs the computer. I believe thats two clicks ?
The arrow button shows all the ways to shut down the computer. I believe its mainly used for people wanting to hibernate, sleep or switch users.
Can you believe that windows vista has like 9!! ways to shut down the computer. Talk about over doing it with the usability. They should have put that thought into other aspects of vista!
hey outsideruk, the red button puts your computer into sleep mode unless you change the default settings. I din't know about the 9 different ways! that seems a bit strange... I think the appropriate number of different methods to do a task should me around 3. one for basic users, one for power users and one for experts.
Hey usabilittie, is the red button sleep mode or hibernate, as according to http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/11/21.html
they are unclear about which menu option that button represents. The page is a good one to read as it outlines how giving choices to people can be a bad idea. Too much choice can lead to people getting confused an unsure which is which.
Its kind of odd having sleep mode as an icon because i would have thought hibernation was a safer option than sleep mode ?
Also I was wondering if you hold down the red button for more than 3seconds when it is set to the default setting does it shut down your computer ?
I ask this because on my dell computer if Press that button on the case, it puts the computer to sleep, however if I hold it for like 3seconds then it shuts down. Is this the same in using the vista button ? It seem abit far stretched.
Also regarding different ways to shut down the computer, vista uses the keyboard shortcuts and they are something like
Ctrl+Esc, Right, Right, Right, u
Ctrl+Esc will open the start menu, which can also be done by pressing the Windows-key
Can you believe they are labelled as Keystroke heaven for Vista in Windows Vista™ Magazine. Ive never actualy tried them but to be honest they do not seem much of as keystroke heaven but more of nightmare!
I preferred Windows xp approach to shutting down via key stroke, it was much simpler and used less key press
hey buddy, that usabilittie is actually me, I donno why I logged in with that email (it's for archiving the entries...). now back to your questions.
I dont have vista so I dont know about that 3 seconds thing. But to me it sounds like that it's not gonna work (that's a hardware thing and this is a software thing).
and regarding that shortcut what you've said to be another shortcut (Ctrl+Esc, Right, Right, Right, u) is not a true keyboard shortcut (IMHO), it seems to be opening the menu's and selecting them using keyboard. So it's not a true shortcut, A shortcut I'm aware of in windows is Alt+F4 which quits the program or if no active program is selected brings up the shut down dialogue box (with the 3 sleep, shut down, restart buttons on it).
Thanks dude, I thought there was something odd about it being outlined as a shortcut.... i was thinking that seems to be a bit long for a shortcut. I believe your right it was referring to keystrokes rather than shortcuts.
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