[4841] in testers
Re: Program launch feedback and launch speed
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (dryfoo@MIT.EDU)
Tue Jun 19 11:49:38 2001
From: dryfoo@MIT.EDU
Message-Id: <200106191549.LAA25154@benny-carter.mit.edu>
To: "Christopher D. Beland" <beland@MIT.EDU>
cc: Abby Fox <ajfox@MIT.EDU>, testers@MIT.EDU, aui@MIT.EDU, sbjones@MIT.EDU
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Tue, 19 Jun 2001 08:56:24 EDT."
<200106191256.IAA27778@Press-Your-Luck.mit.edu>
Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2001 11:49:34 -0400
If I'm starting an app by mousing a selection from a menu (as opposed to
typing it at an xterm) I don't need a LOT of feedback, just something
that differentiates between "yup, you've started it" and "huh, did you
mean to do something?"
Instead of popping up something extra to indicate the app is starting,
how about playing with the launch menu itself? Would it be possible
that when an app is selected/launched the menu stays up for a
(half- ?) second or so, and the selected app listing, say, blinks? That
would be all the clue I think anybody would need that they'd really
launched it and prevent double launchings.
Is this good? Is it possible?
-- Gary L. Dryfoos, <dryfoo@mit.edu>
Consultant, I/S Training & Publications
N42-240, 617.253-0184
} Ok, here's the deal on feedback...
}
} It turns out that the amount of time it takes to start a given program
} is highly variable. It depends not only on the type of machine you're
} logged in on, but also what else is going on at the same time.
}
} I did most of my playing around on the O2 here on my desk. I did a
} couple of trials both with the machine quiet and under load (namely
} reloading cnn.com -- which takes tens of seconds -- in Netscape) to
} get a range of startup times. These are measured in seconds from
} click to any visible sign that the program is starting.
}
} Time Program
} (s)
}
} 1-3 xmh
} 1-5 gnome-terminal
} 1-7 gmenu
} 3-6 emacs
} 4-7 netscape
} 4-10 gnomecc
} 7-10 Any info page on the menus (with Netscape in the middle of
} loading cnn.com)
}
} Then I logged in on a Sunblade (what a cool name) and found that most
} things took about a second or so to start up, but some big things
} (like Netscape and Mathematica, for instance) took say, 4-7 seconds.
}
} I said before I'd give the naive user literally about 2 seconds of no
} visible activity to become worried that they didn't actually select
} their target properly, and try again. (Usually resulting in two
} copies of the application to start up, causing further confusion
} and/or annoyance.) I also recommended using the most tasteful
} slashscreen technology possible when feedback is actually needed.
} The hourglass is nice, but when the mouse cursor is pointing at
} anything but the root window (pretty common), you don't get the
} hourglass at all. (I don't think that can be changed easily, can it?)
} The slashscreen is unmistakable, and can be moved aside if it sticks
} around long enough to get in the way of anything.
}
} Now when an O2 (probably the slowest machines that will be in the
} clusters) is under load, the splashscreen takes 1-2 sec to start up,
} just under the wire. It's designed to do that quickly, though it does
} actually slow down really fast apps (like xterm) by a second or two.
} On the other hand, the user may perceive the computer as running
} faster if they receive visible feedback sooner, on average.
}
} On a Sunblade the experience is a bit different. When I start
} something fast, like Emacs, the splashscreen pops up in the middle of
} the screen for about half a second. Just as my eyes are focusing on
} it, it disappears, and the Emacs window pops up in another corner of
} the screen. It's a bit distracting; I'm sure user reaction to such a
} phenomenon would range from complete apathy to complete annoyance.
}
} (Performance on a Sparc 5 is molasses-slow no matter what one does, of
} course, and feedback would probably always be welcome for novice
} users.)
}
} So the question is, what would be the best type of feedback for the
} default in the release?
}
} * Possible Solutions
}
} 1. Turn on splashscreen xalf for all menu items. Let users who
} usually log in on fast machines and who dislike it to turn it off.
}
} 2. Manually enable splashscreens for things that we know are going to
} take longer than 2 sec even on the fastest machines. Users wouldn't
} be able to disable these slashscreens, though they would be able to
} disable hourglass feedback in Control Center.
}
} 3. Same as 2, only enable an environment variable by which users could
} turn off the extra splashscreens, as well. This might be accomplished
} by making a wrapper script that would invoke xalf as needed. (Though
} this might slow things down even further on slow machines.)
}
} 4. Come up with some kind of scheme whereby splashscreen feedback is
} always enabled for large programs, but for small programs, is only
} enabled on slow machines. The slowness of a machine could be measured
} by simply determining its hardware type.
}
}
} So to sum up, I need to know whether or not this list of programs that
} start too slowly is still needed, and if so, if doing the measurements
} on a *fast* machine, as opposed to a slow one, is the right approach.
}
} Thanks!
}
} Beland
}
}
} P.S. - I love the new Dells. Black computers are beautiful. 8)
}
} ===============================================================
} Christopher Beland - http://web.mit.edu/beland/www/contact.html
} MIT STS/Course 6 (EECS) - MIT Athena User Interface Project
} ===============================================================
