[Qgis-developer] User profiles

[pcreso at pcreso.com]

Gidday from down under...

FWIW, when we commissioned Quantum Map
(https://www.niwa.co.nz/software/quantum-map, one initial objective was to create a less intimidating GUI for first time users. 

We based this on potential user's feedback & the GIS users pyramid (described with a very ESRI centric perspective here http://www.directionsmag.com/articles/gis-nostalgia-at-the-base-of-the-gis-pyramid/123099 )

but essentially:
      /        \
     /create\
    /   edit    \
   / analyse  \
  /  visualise  \

ie: the bottom (largest) tier of real or potential GIS users just want to see their data as a map (layer) on a screen. Maybe query features. Some want to analyse data, & the GIS professionals tend to do most of the data creation. Of course, some users move up the pyramid with experience (& some don't fit the model at all :-)

>From our perspective this has been very successful, Quantum Map does simple things simply, & if you like, provides a stepping stone to QGIS if people are ready to use the extra capability.

So I think the idea of selectable profiles to enable a simple default & add (unhide) capability when you are ready for it is a good idea. Going beyond the existing selectable menus, to a list of user levels, rather than explicit functionality. 

What do the terms "Digitising" & "Advanced digitising" mean to inexperienced GIS users? It is confusing at best, intimidating at worst. 

Ahhh, the simple days of QGIS 0.2 as my primary desktop mapping tool!  :-)


Cheers,

   Brent Wood


--- On Wed, 10/24/12, Paolo Cavallini <cavallini at faunalia.it> wrote:

From: Paolo Cavallini <cavallini at faunalia.it>
Subject: Re: [Qgis-developer] User profiles
To: "Martin Dobias" <wonder.sk at gmail.com>
Cc: "qgis-developer" <qgis-developer at lists.osgeo.org>
Date: Wednesday, October 24, 2012, 12:50 PM

Il 24/10/2012 01:43, Martin Dobias ha scritto:
> I am just afraid that with such profiles the users may forget after a
> while they have chosen a "first-time user" profile that disables a lot
> of functionality and then users will ask/complain about missing
> features...? 
yes, that's why I wrote we have to put prominently a menu "back to full
qgis" or "rerun the wizard", or similar
> btw. Personally I'm quite intimidated by the amount of toolbars and
> icons that QGIS shows by default (i.e. first run). I think if we could
> cut that down to a one line of icons, that will be a good start. 
sure - the first natural candidates are all the "load
vector|raster|etc." buttons, as the same functionality is in the
browser: what do we miss if we remove them now?
All the best.

-- 
Paolo Cavallini - Faunalia
www.faunalia.eu
Full contact details at www.faunalia.eu/pc
Nuovi corsi QGIS e PostGIS: http://www.faunalia.it/calendario

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