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From KDE-HIG_Wiki

This is the Working-Wiki for developing the new KDE HIG. It is intended only for workflow reasons and for a quick overview. The actual and up-to-date new KHIG is availabe in docbook-format (and others) in KDE CVS under /www/areas/guidelines

Also see the proposed KDE4 Guidelines Architecture

Important: Due to recent spam attacks, we currently do 
not allow new account creation. If you would like to create 
an account, please contact the sysops (jm at relevantive . de).

If you have any questions, please write to Jan (jm at relevantive . de)

There are a couple of things you should know:

1. everything is written in American English
2. Status: There are 7 different status flags:
   1. not started
   2. started
   3. needs discussion
   4. needs testing
   5. needs language refinement
   6. complete
   7. passed

Other than that, if you know about KDE and know about Usability, you are welcome to contribute!

Required changes in Qt or KDE libs

Things that must be dealt with on libs or qt level should be proposed and discussed [ here ]

Automated HIG checking

There is an initiative to automatically check KDE applications for guidelines conformity. You can add criteria [ here ]

Technical setup by Danimo, content setup by Holehan

Table of contents

1 Preface 2 Usability Basics 3 System and Desktop Integration 4 Keyboard Operations 5 Pointing Device Operations 6 Drag-and-Drop Operations 7 Application Design Principles 8 Layout and Visual Design 9 Windows 10 Dialogs 11 Menus 12 Toolbars 13 Other Widgets 14 Feedback 15 Help 16 Language 17 Icons 18 Checklists and Quick References

Preface

1. What is this document about?
2. Who should read this document? (s2)
3. Organization of this document
4. Conventions used in this document
5. See also

Usability Basics

1. Design for People (s3)
2. Match your system with the real world (s2)
3. Visualize the System's Status and Options
4. Be Consistent
5. Give the User Control (s1)
6. Help the User to Recover from Errors (s1)
7. Prevent Errors
8. Provide Flexibility and Efficiency (s1)
9. Keep the System Simple and Pretty (s1)
10. Provide Help (s1)

System and Desktop Integration

1. Session Management
2. Placing Entries in the KMenu
3. Mapping Document Types to Applications
4. Using the System Tray

Keyboard Operations

1. Keyboard Focus
2. Keyboard Navigation and Activation
3. Keyboard Shortcuts
4. Keyboard Accelerators

Pointing Device Operations

1. Pointer Operation Feedback
2. Mouse-over Feedback
3. Clicking and Selecting Objects
4. Displaying Contextual Menus

Drag-and-Drop Operations

1. Typical Drag and Drop
2. Drag and Drop Pointer and Destination Feedback

Application Design Principles

1. General Design Principles
2. Using Widgets Effectively
3. Terminology
4. Sensitivity
5. Choosing Components
6. Interaction

Layout and Visual Design

Layout and visual design affect the usability of an application to a high extend - it is more than making an application pretty! A clear layout eases the understanding of an application, the information it presents, its functions and their relation to each other.

1. Grouping Components
2. Padding and Spacing
3. Text Layout
4. Color
5. Fonts

Windows

1. Types of Windows and When to Use Them
2. Document Interfaces (s6)
3. Non-Document Interfaces
4. Window Appearance
5. Window Behavior

Dialogs

1. Types of Dialogs and When to Use Them
2. Handling Modality and Focus
3. Dialog Appearance
4. Dialog Behavior
5. Presenting Options in Dialogs
6. Standard Dialogs

Menus

1. The Menubar
2. Types of Menu
3. Designing Menus
4. Menu Items
5. Standard Menus
6. Context Menu

Toolbars

The toolbar is a collection of 'shortcuts' to items in the menu. It offers a quick way to invoke actions that are used frequently. All items on the toolbar must be available in the menu.

1. Types of Toolbars and When to Use Them (s1)
2. Designing Toolbars (s2)
3. Toolbar Controls (s2)
4. Standard Toolbar Menus (s1)

Other Widgets

1. Text Input
2. Spin Boxes
3. Sliders
4. Buttons
5. Check Boxes
6. Radio Buttons
7. Toggle Buttons
8. Comboboxes
9. Scrollbars
10. Lists
11. Trees
12. Tabbed Widgets
13. Widget Stacks
14. Toolboxes
15. Progress Bars
16. Statusbars
17. Frames and Separators

Feedback

1. Responsive Applications
2. Response Times
3. Types of Feedback
4. Choosing Appropriate Feedback
5. Allowing Interruptions
6. Initial Program Display, Welcome
7. Success Feedback
8. Error Feedback
9. Focus s3
10. Suffix Behavior s2

Help

1. Types of Help
2. Choosing Appropriate Help
3. Inline Help
4. Online Help
5. What's This Help
6. Help Wizards

Language

1. Wording and Naming
2. Warnings and Error Messages
3. Online Help
4. Translations

Icons

1. Types of Icons
2. Designing Effective Icons
3. Designing Accessible Icons

Checklists and Quick References

1. Widgets and Components Quick Refernce
2. Standard Menu and Toolbar Quick Reference
3. Keyboard Shortcut Quick Reference
4. Icon Quick Reference
5. Keyboard Access and Focus Checklist
6. Theming, Colours and Contrast Checklist