Re: [Gaim-devel] More status UI designs

[Ethan B. <ebl...@cs...>]

Dave West spake unto us the following wisdom:
> http://unleashed.org/devel/gaim_status_collapsed.jpg
> This is the collapsed view. In looking through the status UI thread and=
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> looking at the status dropdown, I wanted a more brief way of looking at=
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> status-at-a-glance. After talking briefly with a user who suggested=20
> using another graphical form (and telling them I thought the idea may=20
> get shot down, [and I'm sorry that I forgot your name, you should get=20
> credit for the idea]), I bring you this to possibly shoot down :)

Consider  it shot down.  This particular interface has been suggested by
quite a few people (in fact, enough that  I  suspect  that  another  3rd
party multiprotocol client with a (rumored-to-be) singularly horrible UI
must implement it), and I think it's terrible.  I  think  it's  terrible
enough to fight tooth-and-nail against its inclusion.

To justify this a little (although I think it needs none):

1) It  doesn't  actually provide enough information to really be useful,
   and would have to rely on tooltips/dialogs/something, which  I  think
   we  should  avoid.   And  no, just remembering which account is where
   doesn't cut it.

2) There's  a lot of clutter there, and a lot of small targets.  As many
   readers are aware, an important aspect of UI design is making  inter-
   active components as effectively large as possible; note that "effec-
   tively large" and "actually large" are somewhat  different,  see  the
   various justifications for Macintosh-style menus.

3) In the end, it doesn't avoid the space problem, it just pushes it off
   a little farther.  Sean's idea (that is, some sort of global  single-
   selection  status) kills it entirely, ensuring that the entire status
   of all accounts can be represented in some meaningful  fashion  in  a
   fixed  amount  of space.  As your mockup suggests, the little-row-of-
   ugly-icons method is vulnerable to scrolling etc.

4) ... insert your own valid reasons here.

Ethan

--=20
The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws [that have no remedy
for evils].  They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor
determined to commit crimes.
		-- Cesare Beccaria, "On Crimes and Punishments", 1764