Inconsistencies in Logos User Interface
Comments
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My ultimate goal with this thread is to improve usability. The explanations for the potential meaningfulness of what I consider an inconsistency are just not intuitive. Only more questions are raised: Why should a "search everything" only return a "random sampling"?
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Armin said:
Why should a "search everything" only return a "random sampling"?
Good question. Usability is its own subfield in Computer Science and portions of it have been thoroughly tested in the labs. What is intuitive to one person may not be intuitive to the next because habit and familiarity are major components of the intuition of an individual. A prime example within Logos is the presentation of facets in order of frequency rather than alphabetically. This is because most people prefer their most frequently used facets to "just be there" and are willing to use a find box to find the remaining facets. However, in Bible study, the most frequent facets are not necessarily the most used facets; therefore, it is appropriate for Logos to also offer an alphabetic order. So it is reasonable for Logos to define useability with regards to facets lists as:
- default facet list in frequency order (what people are used to in other applications)
- a search box for all facets (again, what people are used to in other application)
- a choice of alphabetic sequence with the exceptions of the canon in canonical order and in some cases a liturgical year in calendar (date) sequence)
However, there is another principle of usability that Logos struggles with -- one that increases as one's library expands. Too much data is nearly equivalent to no data -- there is no way a user can plough through it to review all cases; it is difficult to find one's go-to resources to even find some basic sources. The everything search is designed in theory to give so much data as to be useless in some sections i.e. to be a user's nightmare. The solution is to return a sampling of the results and provide an option for a full search. This allows the user some very useful options:
- the ability to get a taste of the results and determine whether or not a full search would be useful.
- the ability to run the search for the full results, if needed
- the ability to take that full search and modify it to add more restrictions to make it more meaningful -- search fields, search terms, or resources searched.
That is why an everything search only returns a random sampling and why many users would never use it if it returned complete results.
Uniformity is one of several elements highly valued in UI design but it must not become the only value at the cost of usability. No, I have no computer science degree in UI/useability. But I interviewed and worked with a Stanford graduate who does.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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MJ. Smith said:
That is why an everything search only returns a random sampling and why many users would never use it if it returned complete results.
I don't think it is a "random sampling", otherwise search results would change if I re-run the same search. It is unclear to me how Logos decides which search results to show in this search.
MJ. Smith said:Uniformity is one of several elements highly valued in UI design but it must not become the only value at the cost of usability.
For me and my limited understanding of the terms, I am not necessarily interested in uniformity, but in consistency.
In the end, the customer decides. While I invested a lot in Logos and decided to live with its quirks, none of the 5 (?) people whom I gifted a Logos base package uses it. The reason they gave me is consistent (sorry for the pun): Too difficult to use. And they were all people I considered to be potential future enthusiasts of Logos.
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MJ. Smith said:SineNomine said:
It is definitely an odd inconsistency. Perhaps there is some obscure reason for it, but it eludes me at the moment.
I think that Dave hit upon the explanation (and the reason I don't consider the two as parallel and therefore not an inconsistency). The everything search provides only a sampling of results. If you want the full results, you run a Search which is where the options for the order should appear. A sort on a "randoming sampling" leads to the erroneous assumption that the results are complete and meaningful.
The all resources search, however, does provide complete results and therefore the sorting is meaningful.
As a description of why the inconsistency exists, this seems plausible. As a reason for it, I don't think it holds up.
“The trouble is that everyone talks about reforming others and no one thinks about reforming himself.” St. Peter of Alcántara
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SineNomine said:
As a description of why the inconsistency exists, this seems plausible. As a reason for it, I don't think it holds up.
As we appear to use the words in a slightly different way, I can't disagree because I am uncertain what you mean.[;)]
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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Here is another inconsistency:
When I search for "Colossae" in the Factbook, I get the following section:
This section contains Media related to Colossae. However, when I click on one of the maps, I don't get the Media Tool. I get the Atlas Tool. In my view, the Atlas Tool is a tool, not a media. My understanding of the relationship between media and maps seems to be confirmed by the fact that the "Search all media for "Colossae"" only searches for media, not for maps.
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Sorry, but I am pleased to have the atlas included in the media section rather than having multiple media sections as in the guides. I would expect the atlas to open the atlas. It is not as if the Atlas is alone in using alternative viewers - try some of the interactives
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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Armin said:MJ. Smith said:
That is why an everything search only returns a random sampling and why many users would never use it if it returned complete results.
I don't think it is a "random sampling", otherwise search results would change if I re-run the same search. It is unclear to me how Logos decides which search results to show in this search.
I don't think it's random either.
“The trouble is that everyone talks about reforming others and no one thinks about reforming himself.” St. Peter of Alcántara
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