Re: [Usability] Splash screens and startup notification

On Tue, 2006-01-17 at 08:26 +0100, Stefan Kost wrote:
> Hi,
>
> karderio wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I was wondering if there was any sort of dogma concerning splash screens
> > for GNOME applications.
> >
> > Seeing as there are virtually no GNOME apps that use splash screens, I
> > would guess that they are not necessarily recommended. The only purpose
> > I can see them serving is showing feedback for application startup, for
> > applications that take some time to start (I'm thinking openoffice).
> >
> > Is there any way that startup feedback could be presented to the user
> > other than with a splash screen ? For example, when you have an
> > applicationX starting, instead of the "Starting applicationX" in the
> > window list, could you not have "Starting applicationX - Step Y" and
> > change this as the startup progresses ?
> >
> > Love, Karderio
>
> This indee sounds good. I don't like it when splsh screen covering my screen
> space. What about having a progressbar inside the window list. Thus immediately
> after starting the app, the window-list entry would appear with a progressbar
> inside.

Would it not be hard (impossible) to calculate the percentage of time
until the end of startup for the progressbar ? Would you not have to add
specific code to each application ? If you wanted some sort of
indicator, would a throbber not be more appropriate ? I would think
textual output could be interesting, such as "Starting Bluetooth Client
- Connecting to remote device" or "Starting OpenOffice - Initializing
Java", the user would know what he is waiting for, and it would help
with troubleshooting...

> From the technical pov, we would need a spalsh api, so that we could show a
> uniformous splash dialog, if there is no window list or the embeded startup
> status if there is.

Does this mean there is no way of doing this with the existing libnotify
or such ? I was sort of hoping this would not be too complicated :(

Love, Karderio

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Relevant Pages

  • [Usability] Re: Splash screens and startup notification
    ... >>> I was wondering if there was any sort of dogma concerning splash screens ... >>> Seeing as there are virtually no GNOME apps that use splash screens, ... >>> Is there any way that startup feedback could be presented to the user ... >>> Love, Karderio ...
    (GNOME)
  • Re: [Usability] Splash screens and startup notification
    ... >> until the end of startup for the progressbar? ... > If it's for troubleshooting purposes, ... I personally do not like splash screens, and I don't necessarily see the ... point to giving status information about application startup. ...
    (GNOME)
  • Re: [Usability] Splash screens and startup notification
    ... > I personally do not like splash screens, and I don't necessarily see the ... > point to giving status information about application startup. ... My thought was a small rectangle near the notification area or window ... Hitting the close button kills the app, ...
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    ... >> The HIG doesn't mention them as far as I recall (updates to the HIG ... Okay less evil than most splash screens but still evil. ... > startup time for those users isn't really very friendly. ...
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