Minimum Display Size in KDE

A topic that periodically pops up in KDE is what screen sizes that should be acceptable. Usually someone thinks no one runs at the resolution 800×600 and therefore decides to think the minimum requirement should be 1024×768. Typically, people explains why that is not a very good idea and the suggestion is dropped, as seen in this recent thread.

Why is it then a bad idea to disallow the use of 800×600? Because the idea rests on this principle:

If someone breaks a normal chair because of having an over-weight, the solution is to build a bigger chair.

It is not. The solution is to not have an over-weight, such that a normal chair can be used.

The same applies to the screen size debate. That windows are huge is a symptom. It shouldn’t be work-arounded by accepting it.

Here is a list on why large windows are bad:

• Disabled people might use a low resolution despite having a large screen. Also, font-related settings can make a window large. That is, this is an accessibility aspect.
• No matter if a large or small display is used, one doesn’t want a large dialog in either case. Dialogs are supposed to be small, neat windows floating on the main document, giving the user a clear understanding of that the dialog affects and belongs to the main window. It’s not supposed to fill the whole screen. How practical is that?
• When talking about “small” screen sizes, it’s not just about those old monitors. The diversity of hardware is only increasing(tablets, cell-phones, and so on) and as this continues, it will be more and more interesting to run KDE-software on those too.
• That for example a configuration dialog is large to the extent it doesn’t fit on a 800×600 display reveals severe usability issues beyond it not fitting on a display.
• Not all desktop users have dropped those old CRT-monitors in favour of large, flat TFT-displays. There is a large world out there which doesn’t live a life that some of us are used to, consisting of the latest hardware, IPods, and what not. Reaching and helping those users is something I personally finds interesting and gladly see KDE achieving.
• Some languages are verbose compared to English and therefore the interface can require more space when being used in another language. That is, if a window is already large it will become even larger in some languages.
• Many users are in fact using 800×600. A page by Jacob Nielsen dated 2006 claims 17% is using 800×600(the background of these statistics are on page 226 of his new book Prioritizing Web Usability, I was told). Browser News also claims 17%. A page at W3 Schools claims that in 2006 20% were using 800×600 on the web.

As can be seen, there is a wide range of different reasons to ensure windows work on “small” resolutions. Phrased differently, this topic is too complex for concluding that 1024×768 is sufficient, by watching what ones co-workers and family members are using.

An important thing to remember is that it’s not the windows themselves that should be 800×600 large. That’s the screen resolution that the windows must fit on. Therefore, windows should rather be designed for being of size 640×480 in order to ensure they fit and fit comfortably, when taking for example the kicker(start menu) into account.

State of the Art

That Clarence Dang writes “800×600 [...] doesn’t reflect the reality of some of our dialogs” it is a comment that unfortunately is true. If I recall correctly, there is plenty of KControl modules that are broken on 800×600 and one can find prime examples such as KMail:

Yes, this is one of the most used KDE applications, with a configuration dialog that doesn’t fit even on 1024×768.

The question is of course: what can be done to change this situation?

A year or two ago I made KCModuleProxy, the class that displays configuration modules in dialogs and KControl, wrap the contained module in a scroll area if it was too large. Scroll bars aren’t very practical but it did make dialogs at least usable, and it acted as a protection until the dialogs were fixed properly. But this mechanism got removed by a developer for whose dialog scroll bars appeared.

Another approach is to detect and report broken dialogs. If I recall correctly, Benjamin Meyer did this with DCOP magic in the now obsolete(I believe!) kdetestscripts. Perhaps the same can be added to EBN or similar.

Once KDE more rigidly has integrated its Human Interface Guidelines into development, it will perhaps be possible to pursue this with a successful result.