Re: [libreoffice-design] The purpose of Impress

Hi Regina,

2014/1/19 Regina Henschel <rb.henschel@t-online.de>

> Hi Mirek,
>
> Mirek M. schrieb:
>
>  Hi guys,
> > In order to be able to effectively design and shape the future of
> > LibreOffice modules, it is imperative that we define what these modules
> > are
> > for. Knowing the purpose of each module will help us focus on doing one
> > thing well and avoid counterproductive feature creep.
> >
> > Since, out of all the modules, Impress's purpose might be one of the
> > clearest, let's start with it.
> >
> > My rough draft:
> > The purpose of Impress is "to make it simple and quick to craft a slide
> > show to perfectly complement a speech."
> > Please comment on this.
> >
> >  "complement a speech" is not all. There exists other popular usages of
> impress. For example:
> (1) Self-repeating (product-) information, for example in shop window,
> waiting room, or station.
> (2) Interactive learning arrangement
> (3) Present pictures from travel or festivals to friends or parishioners
> (4) Background for memorial or meditation
> (5) Lecture notes for revision

Yes, but it's important design practice to focus on doing one thing
excellently, not on doing several things in a mediocre way.
That doesn't mean Impress can't or shouldn't be used for other things, but
that it should be optimized to do one thing well. Alternative use-cases can
be covered unintentionally, by extensions, or by splitting the module into
two.

Real-life examples of each of these:
LibreOffice Writer wasn't designed for editing code. You may use it for
that purpose, though. (You definitely shouldn't, there are much, much
better tools for the job, but it is possible.) The same goes for using
Impress for a picture slideshow -- there are better tools for the job, and
that's because those tools were designed specifically for that job.
Chrome was designed strictly as a web browser, and it fulfills that role
excellently. You may use it as an RSS reader or as a torrent client,
though, if you install the right extension.
The Mozilla Software Suite, which was a web-browser and an e-mail client
combined, was discontinued in favor of the more focused Firefox and
Thunderbird.

"simple and quick" needs to be expanded in a further step. For example one
> requirement is adaptability.

What exactly do you mean by "adaptability"?

> Kind regards
> Regina

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