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pcplantdb - Re: [pcplantdb] new comments on 0.2.3 - advanced search

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  • From: Chad Knepp <pyg@galatea.org>
  • To: john@eco-living.net, pcplantdb <pcplantdb@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [pcplantdb] new comments on 0.2.3 - advanced search
  • Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2005 13:40:40 -0500

John Schinnerer writes:
> Aloha,
>
> I follow your logic.
> However, we're dealing with human beings, not logic.
>
> Bottom line for me is that Stephanie didn't get what she expected - not
> even close, nor could she readily figure out why and what and how it
> actually worked and what to do different to get what she wanted/expected.
> My assumptions and understandings pretty much matched hers or I wouldn't
> have made such a long comment.
>
> So are we going to make software that works intuitively based on what
> people expect and want, or are we going to do it 'logically' and then have
> a huge FAQ and howto and so on explaining how it actually works and what
> counter-intuitive things one has to learn to do to get what one actually
> wants out of the system?
>
> I'm exaggerating somewhat, but IMO that's exactly why computers/software
> is mostly so crappy and hard to use. Engineers 'design' it based on
> abstractions and logic and not on how people experience existence and
> interact with context.

I agree and think that having the group we do with the mix it is is a
good thing. I will fully own that my designs in the past have not
always been user-friendly. This is all good feedback.

> Also, from her msg. I didn't get that the 'first 10' or however many items
> matched all her constraints, the way you say it would work:

Not really sure about her actual query, but the *relevance meter* on
the left will now (as of latest release) tell you if the result
matched all your constraints and/or the number of contraints it does
match. I'm quite pleased with it.

> > ...If an object or objects match all
> > 10 then the AND displays the object[s]... so does the OR followed by
> > other items that didn't match all 10.
>
> It sounded to me like she got nothing like she expected, certainly not at
> the top of the list.
> Correct me if I'm wrong on that Stephanie.
>
> At the very least adv. srch. needs some help info so people know how to
> use it, if it's going to stay the way it is.
>
> My guess is that most people will not get it and will have a hard time
> figuring it out.

The current form is a prototype and will probably be streamlined by
Bear in the near future. Even then with the number of search options
available, we will still probably need a search page.

> My comparison is not to internet search engines, it is to at least
> somewhat focused database search forms and queries, which is what I
> thought we were building here.

True, but my reasoning for comparison to internet search engines is
that this is what the bulk of our users will already have experience
with, so having some similarities to them can be helpful. The one box
basic search option is a step in this direction, but not that
effective for really getting what you want... hence advanced search.

> John S.

105 degrees F (guess what the F stands for),
Chad

--
Chad Knepp
python -c 'import base64;print base64.decodestring("cHlnQGdhbGF0ZWEub3Jn")'




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