Chapter 3. Some Rules
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Chapter 3. Some Rules

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3.1. Usability

Most often when a YaST module shall be created, this module will have some interaction with the user. This usually implies the creation of dialogs to be displayed on screen. As you might have noticed the dialogs that come ready-made with YaST follow a distinct “look and feel” which is due to the fact that the YaST developers follow some rules regarding the visual appearance as well as the functional behavior of a dialog. The keywords here are usability and GUI-consistency.

3.1. Usability

When it comes to user-interaction one concept that is stressed very often is usability or - more speaking - user-friendliness. If you have ever heard s.th. about ergonomics you may also know the term Human Computer Interaction (HCI). For us regular folks usability is probably the best notation because it best summarizes what's it all about. It means that the program in question is good “usable” by the user. In general that means that operating a screen dialog should enjoin as low a burden as possible on the user.

In order to have a good usability a system should satisfy the following criteria:

  • Users must be able to accomplish their goal with minimal effort and maximum results.

  • The system must not treat the user in a hostile fashion or treat the user as if they do not matter.

  • The system can not crash or produce any unexpected results at any point in the process.

  • There must be constraints on the users actions.

  • Users should not suffer from information overload.

  • The system must be consistent at every point in the process.

  • The system must always provide feedback to the user so that they know and understand what is happening at every point in the process.

[Important]Important

If you want to create an interactive YaST module you should try to heed those rules to ease the users life and to assure your module fits smoothly into the surrounding YaST environment which (hopefully) follows them too.

All that said above in essence is an outline from a very good article by Todd Burgess. If you are interested in a more elaborate discussion of usability you may have a look at http://www.osOpinion.com/Opinions/ToddBurgess/ToddBurgess1.html

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