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Usability Nightmare: ktoon
Posted on: 2009-03-20 15:49:14

Today's usability tips

  • If users have to start a new project to use your program, then when your program starts, it should automatically start a new project.
  • It is never a good idea to make menu items that inexplicably do nothing.
  • Few types of software benefit from a "Tip of the day". If you can't think of any tips, then your software is not one of them.
  • If you have a help feature, it should be under the help menu.
  • Slapping up a wiki is not a substitute for a help system.

Case study: ktoon

I wanted to make some simple animations, so I did the wrong thing and used Ubuntu's "Add Remove Programs". I came across this install. It has three stars, and a heart, so it must be good!

Great! I can make flash cartoons. I'm already thinking of all the rude cartoons I can make using stick figures.

From the moment it begins starting, until the moment it actually starts, the software seems easy to use. It even has a tip of the day. There are exactly four tips of the day. The developers were very optimistic!

If you find bugs on this application, or you have suggestions about KToon, please, report them from http://developer.berlios.de/bugs/?group_id=2960

If you discover a new tip and you want to share it. Please, add it in our wiki site: http://ktoon.toonka.com/documentation/index.php?title=Tips

You can choose the behaivor of the KToon interface. If you do a double click in any tool window title, the docked window will change to a floating window.

You can to create customized brushes choosing the option \"Tools -> Brushes -> Shape Brush\".

Here's what you see when it starts. Can you figure out how to draw something? Where, exactly, are all of these basic illustration tools that it is purported to have? Where is the Tools menu mentioned in the last tip? Oh well, at least I can dock and undock the tool windows.

There are no drawing tools.

If I click the large black window, nothing happens.

I click on Insert layer... and nothing happens. I click on Insert Scene... nothing. I click on Insert frame... nothing.

I try right-clicking on the black area, then left clicking. I even try middle clicking.

I tried the three icons on the left side. One of them lets me pick a colour, and the other lets me pick a pen size. But even after all of this, I can't draw anything.

How about some help? Notice that the help menu contains nothing to do with help. Using another drawing program, I've circled what you are actually supposed to click on to get help.

If you actually ever manage to find the help system, you get:

What's wrong with this picture? (Besides my choice of window theme...)

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Patrick Geiller

2009-03-21 06:25:18
Wow, that window has _three_ scrollbars ? Hail Linux ! :)

And obviously the help won't let you read and experiment at the same time.

Matthias Wandel

2009-03-21 19:31:35
Recently set up a Linux box again, with the latest Ubuntu.

As usual, I conclude that as far as Linux on the desktop goes, somehow I suspect the people who advocate it don't actually use it.

Hhhhs

2009-03-22 06:51:50
Another reason why tabs are not the solution to everything these days

osaka

2009-05-28 04:54:48
I don't know. I found a good tutorial but it seems I'm missing something. I have used this before but I can't remember how to use it properly....

osaka

2009-05-28 04:56:23
THIS IS PISSING ME OFF! I can't do anything..... does anybody know how to actually use TKoon?????

Razaq

2009-07-14 22:27:16
There is a bug in the way the tools were installed. They were put in /usr/lib instead of /usr/share.

To work around this, open a terminal and type:

sudo ln -s /usr/lib/ktoon/plugins /usr/share/ktoon/plugins

Happy animation

M. Allen West

2009-12-05 07:19:33
Hello every one I'm M. Allen West from FlashCadabra

I'm an artist... Here are some things you May need to do to get this software working..

1.Install Ktoon

2. when you first install Ktoon you have open the terminal and type this commands>>

sudo ln -s /usr/lib/ktoon/plugins /usr/share/ktoon/

Press Enter then it will ask password... do that and press Enter again.

3. File then new project...

There is a pencil tab on the Left side, and at the bottom there is a tab for the time line...

I hope this helps

m. smith

2009-12-11 00:01:09
when did Linux get windows boxes? and what version of Ubuntu are you using, but other then that, this is the exact same problem i have had with this soft ware

Dave

2009-12-23 15:30:53
And the real failure...

1.Install Ktoon

2. when you first install Ktoon you have open the terminal and type this commands>>

sudo ln -s /usr/lib/ktoon/plugins /usr/share/ktoon/

Is the fact the software ISN'T ready after step 1. *sigh*

megan

2010-03-04 19:38:28
ha ha, i did the same thing.. i dont fucking no how to use this!

Tom Van Kerkhoven

2010-05-26 08:16:43
First of all, Ktoon has not reached maturity yet. The versioning (0.x) indicates, this is not yet a mature product. If you work with such early versions of software under Windows you will encounter the same kind of issues. Part of the nature of open source compared to commercial software is that software is available to the public before it reaches maturity. The main thing to actually get the software to do things is to open a new project, etc. I know ideally it should do this by default, but software that is still in such an early stage of development very often has such usability problems, creating help files and actually setting up the default environment is something which is usually left till the end of a development process as a lot may still change.

Max

2010-06-20 19:14:14
Sheesh! What a crock of crap! Iv typed the command line suggested, but nothing happens. The screen remains black and unusable.

Tom Van Kerkhoven: For sure this is not mature software, so why has it been released with a 'beta' tag? Had it had one of those then Id guess that this article would not even exist, because I sure as hell wouldn't have installed it.

Total crap - un-installed, wont be re-installed. The developers can plate it with gold and I wont touch it again.

Message do developers:

If it aint ready and you feel the need to release it, then add a beta tag, otherwise, keep your crap on your own machine.

dsc

2010-07-08 21:44:31
Does not work for me. Funny how someone said something about three scroll bars, where I see none.

Daniel Roque

2010-07-10 10:44:28
Calm down,

hehe you first need to add a new project to things start to happen!

But I agreen, I think that are better softwares for this porpouse.

steve.hanov@gmail.com

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