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Gianluca Administrator Posts: 1274
21/06/2012
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PoWi suggested to open a new topic to discuss this subject.
SyMenu is getting more and more complex due to the new features I add on every new version.
It could be confusing for newbies even if it is a paradise for the power-users (like me  )
I surely won't change this approach of enriching SyMenu more and more because it has to become the best program on its category.
But I would like to offer a simpler user experience to the new users.
When you first start SyMenu a little wizard popup. SyMenu asks to choose some basic options such as your language, if you want to check for a new version on startup, if you want to enable shorcuts and gestures, if you want to backup configuration files.
Well... I don't know if these could be some really basic options... backup configuration files???
I would like to ask you, in your opinion, which kind of options could be considered really basic and could be included in this initial wizard.
The second question regards the right way to simplify the options menu (above all) and the entire program too.
For the option menu I could offer a checkbox to enable the expert mode (disabled by default). But in this case too I have to indentify which kind of option are really the basic ones and which ones are not.
Every suggestion is really welcome.
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PoWi Posts: 90
21/06/2012
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I surely won't change this approach of enriching SyMenu more and more because it has to become the best program on its category.
But I would like to offer a simpler user experience to the new users.
Gianluca you are so right with this!
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Gianluca I like your idea with the initial wizard AND the 2 config-modes.
For the config-modes I think it's better to start a separate thread for each config-dialog. So we all see what options are there and can discuss more easily.
Initial wizard:
- language
- shortcut for opening SyMenu and the position
- simple dialog to add exe's
- search entires in Win-Startmenu
NO check for updates (normal users aren't paranoid ;-); they only want to have programs run and don't want to care about) :-)
For more the user have to go to config-dialog.
<em>edited by PoWi on 6/21/2012</em>
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PoWi Posts: 90
26/06/2012
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@Gianluca
I think first you should know which "usertypes" are using SyMenu and how many.
Is it possible to make a poll in this forum?
() simple use of SyMenu, please hide features
() simple use, but SyMenu is just fine
() power user, please make more features
<em>edited by PoWi on 6/26/2012</em>
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Gianluca Administrator Posts: 1274
27/06/2012
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Hi PoWi.
Thank you for your suggestion regarding the initial wizard. I'm awating for the feedback of other users too!
The poll is useless... unfortunately simple users don't partecipate in this forum... we are all expert here :-)
I think that I'll consider the idea of two different approaches to the options menu: the expert one and the simple one.
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ineedh3lp Posts: 25
22/07/2012
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Hello, I would like to add my opinion to this thread.
Although enabling advanced configuration pages for users who want to customize more settings sounds like a good idea and I stand by it, I think it is not worth investing time in it, nor for creating a wizard. I'm pretty sure that the average users don't just start with SyMenu, instead they go with dumb application launchers first (like the ones which you can stick to the bottom or sides of the screen) and then some of them evolve to using SyMenu because they want more control and become more serious, not caring for glittering zoomy items, but for practicality and functionality.
I never used SyMenu as a portable applications launcher and I do not regard it that way, yet, in my opinion, it is undisputedly the best application launcher from all I have tried, free or commercial. Sometimes, some of the best solutions are simply not meant to be used by beginners because beginners do not have a formed opinion about what is best for themselves, instead they go for eye candy and really really basic solutions. Now, don't get me wrong, I like slick effects and smooth shiny interfaces, but I prefer functionality over that.
So my point is that no matter how much you try to make SyMenu friendly to new users, they just won't stick to it because they will immediately discard it as soon as they start to be aware of the other point-and-click application launching solutions (and honestly, it is a big deal if a beginner even realizes the purposes of application launchers). People that chose SyMenu already know what they want and stick to it unless something better emerges, which I doubt.
A better reason to concern about making SyMenu very easy to use would be if you'd plan to turn SyMenu into a commercial solution, which I, as a user, am completely supporting it as long as it keeps the existing features and gets better in time.
<em>edited by ineedh3lp on 7/22/2012</em>
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Gianluca Administrator Posts: 1274
23/07/2012
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It is a really interesting opinion.
So you think that SyMenu can't be choosen by newbies in any way not because its complexity but because its approach: no graphical frippery, absence of an already filled program suite, no point and execute feature.
If this is the truth SyMenu will never be too complex.
The right topic will become how to keep SyMenu consistent and easy to understand even if I continuously add new feature.
Well in this case the help of the community is fundamental in choosing the right order of the menus, the right name for the labels, the right place to put options. Eventually I'll open a thread with this topic.
Regarding the commercial thing, SyMenu is free and remains free because it represents my personal contribution to the incredible and irreplaceable world of freeware software.
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ineedh3lp Posts: 25
23/07/2012
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The new generations of users is the appstore generations, and thanks to Apple people are becoming dumber and dumber as time passes. People these days are used to accomplish tasks with one hand, either scrubbing their fingers over a phone/tablet display or moving the pointer and clicking around. This kind of people is the mass representing beginners or newbies- they have no idea of what hot-keys are, they don't even come close to requiring the needs SyMenu was designed for, which is portable applications launcher.
You can be certain that if a user knows that he needs an application launcher to carry on a stick for launching portable applications, he is not one of the beginners we're talking about, and that user doesn't need wizards or separated configuration pages (between advanced/simple settings) because he knows how to make his way through it.
Of course, wizards are good for configuring large sets of options, regardless of user knowledge level, I just don't think it is worth to invest time to do it for SyMenu since most of the stuff is easily configurable from the Options box. But if you were to design a wizard, I guess you would just have to create a sequence of boxes in which you would present the user with separate options and more or less detailed explanation of what would each do if it is activated.
<em>edited by ineedh3lp on 7/23/2012</em>
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PoWi Posts: 90
23/07/2012
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thinking about what ineedh3lp wrote...
I go with him/her.
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