Re: Come back and graphical installer

[Thorsten Wilms <t_w_@freenet.de>]

Hi Guix!

On 16/11/2018 14.20, Mathieu Othacehe wrote:
> I feel that now is a good time to gather remarks/ideas/patches before
> diving into the last part. Plus, I'm terrible UI design so any help
> tuning logo, colors and button placement would be much appreciated :)

Ah, this reminds me of 2007, when I worked my way through Ubuntu's 
installation and made a presentation about issues and suggestions with a 
few mockups.

I know what's there right now didn't fall from the sky and there's 
effort to every little change. If any of the following reads like a 
demand or demanding to you, please be assured that I just tried to get 
straight to the point in what essentially are just suggestions.


Dialog buttons:

Note that I come to this textmode interface with expectations and habits 
shaped by graphical interfaces. That will be true of other users, too, 
though.

There is "Cancel", but no "Select"/"OK"/"Forward", not even a hint like 
"Press Enter to select". "Cancel Installation" would be clearer, but 
maybe a bit long. Maybe "Exit"?

There should be a "Back" button (bound to left-arrow and maybe also 
Escape). Having a "Back" button would also emphasize that "Cancel" is 
not just that.

Dialog buttons should be right-aligned, with [ Cancel | OK/default ] 
order (GNOME and Apple style).


"Language selection":

Lists like this are so much nicer to use if you know that you can type a 
letter to jump to the first item that starts with it. In this sense, a 
hint about this feature would be great, though it's tricky to explain 
this short and clear enough.

Would it be feasible to change this to a completion-list instead of 
working on initials only?

"English" should probably be preselected. As odd as the list scrolled 
down a good bit right from the start may look, this is the one choice 
that may speed things up for the largest group of users. Unlike "Afar".

Is it possible to detect the BIOS language settings? Any other way to 
make an informed guess?

Language names should be localized, e.g. "Deutsch" instead of "German". 
There may be issues regarding character set and list navigation, though.


"Location selection":

A shortlist based on language selection is not acceptable. You just made 
me relocate to the United Kingdom as nearest choice ;)


"Code selection":

A few more words what this is about should help, assuming Guix is meant 
to reach less technical users (at some point).


"Timezone selection":

This should happen after Location selection. The text should explain 
that selection happens in 2 steps, via a region, then a city. Along the 
lines of: "First select a region, then a city (next page), to set a 
timezone".

It may be better to use one list of timezones, each with the UTC offset, 
followed by a list of major cities.


"Keyboard model selection":

Hmm, Ubuntu's graphical installer gets away with just layout and 
variant, no mention of model. Some graphical installers have a test box 
and/or a detection scheme (asking the user to press certain keys).


"Technology selection":

Should be "Internet access". It seems like with "technology" a bit of 
the implementation language slipped through?


"User selection":

This could start right in "User creation" for the first, required user. 
Actually, I wonder if the installer should even offer creation of 
several users? In general, don't do what can easily be done after 
installation.


Consider to leave "selection" out of all page titles.


-- 
Thorsten Wilms

thorwil's design for free software:
http://thorwil.wordpress.com/