vbs-devel — Virtual Bookshelf Developer Discussion List

Re: [vbs-devel] Virtual Bookshelf

[Josh G. <vb...@jm...>]

Quoth Brandon Allen (Mon 2004-07-12 10:12:44AM -0400):

> I read through Josh's notes to you about the Virtual Bookshelf, and hav=
e
> added a few books of my own so far.  Below are a few thoughts that I
> have so far.  Please keep in mind that I'm trying to focus on a
> usability perspective, and that these are only my opinions.  Also, I am
> usually not offended if you tell me to STFU. :)

*I* would be offended, just out of principle, if an *intern* told a
Software Engineer to STFU. Now marking a suggestion "Closed: Will not
Implement", is a different matter entirely... ;)

> Odds are, some or most
> of these things have occurred to you already, which is why I wanted to
> meet with you and we could just talk for a while about the project, but=
,
> it's probably better if I get this all down in writing, that way it
> looks like I'm working. :P

If you want to meet with Ed, that is great, but please let me know so
that I can be there as well.

> - The initial interface is a bit confusing to me, at least at first.
> The category selection dropdown at the top in the middle above the
> bookshelf should probably be labeled "Sort By", and the "Add to Shelf"
> button should be relocated to the left "Menu" area, and, most likely
> renamed "Add to My Shelf".  Maybe something a little less Microsoft-ish=
,
> if that offends you. :)

Good suggestions.

> - The books should filter properly below when the category selection ba=
r
> ("Sort by" :D) is used.  I see that they do filter in the Existing book=
s
> drop down, but, I feel the list below sorting would be much more
> tactile.

Not a bad idea, but maybe it should be implemented as follows:

- Add a new dropdown box to the "My Shelf" section: "Show only category:"=
.
- Move the whole Add to Shelf section either down below the "My Shelf"
  section, or put it in a sidebar. Either way, label it.
- Keep showing *all* books on "My Shelf" as the default.

> - If the book list is auto-sorted, you wouldn't need the "Existing
> Books" drop down, or the "Owner" drop down, and could actually do away
> with the whole section at the top, making the entire middle of the page
> be a users bookshelf.  I believe this would be a more intuitive
> interface.  Additionally, you could move the two menu items on the
> right, over to the left, giving more room for the book list.

Agreed. See my suggestion, above. Also, I do not think we really need
the Owner dropbox here at all.

> - The search bar could be expanded to behave a little more like Amazon,
> where, the drop down box with the different categories in it could be
> below the search box.  Or, you could have the search category box calle=
d
> "Find a Book..." and below the title, have the search box, and below
> that, it could say, "Or jump to a category:" and have the category
> dropdown. In Josh's spec, he has the search with many different
> options.  These should be in an "Advanced Search" section, of course.

*Great* idea!

> - In the center bookshelf area, there should be a column for which user
> shelf the book belongs on, as opposed to who owns the book, which I
> suspect in 90% of the cases will be TFCC for us.  Or, we could just
> start using the "Owner" column in this way.  Also, the status column
> could list who currently has the book.  The names in these columns coul=
d
> be clickable email links.

Except that the centre bookshelf is "My Shelf", so all books on it, by
definition, belong to "me". You are confusing "owner" with "possessor",
an easy thing to do. "Owner" is the person who actually *paid for* the
book, which is as you have noted, in most cases, TFCC (Carey's bookshelf
would be a notable exception). "Possessor" is the person on whose shelf
an instance of a book resides.

There is a separate place that shows which books you have checked out.

Now, your idea is good otherwise. There *should* be a "Location" column
in the "My Shelf" table, and the names there should be hyperlinks,
though maybe they should link to a person's shelf and not their email.

Which brings us to another point: we currently do not have a way for
users to browse other users' bookshelves. Do you concur, Ed? This is
something we need to remedy ASAP. I had envisioned this, but I do not
think it is mention in my spec. D'oh!

> - I think when a book is clicked on in the bookshelf list, it should
> bring up a new page or a window, and on this page/window the data shoul=
d
> be static and unchangeable.  I also think there should be an option for
> the owner of the book to put comments or a review of the book, or
> whatever, when they add the book, and these would be readable on this
> book details page.

The issue of who can edit book details is an important one, and we need
to discuss this further. Adding a comment table to the database sounds
like a good idea to me. In the edit book view, the comments could be
listed like this:

Comment made by _Josh Glover_[1] on 2004/07/12:
_"This book is the biggest waste of time that I have encountered..."_ [2]

[1] is a hyperlink that takes you to Josh Glover's bookshelf, and
[2] is a hyperlink that opens the full comment in an edit box

> - Next to each item in a listed bookshelf, there should be a link/butto=
n
> that says "Reserve" or "Check Out".  Something like that, anyhow, so, a
> user could do a search for Programming Perl, a page is populated with
> the half a dozen books that are not in use, and can click on the button=
,
> automatically shifting the book to their bookshelf and sending the
> proper emails.  The book list should then reload to show the user as
> having that book.  The button would then read "Book Returned" or "Check
> In" to allow the user to put that book back.

Agreed. Except, as mentioned above, checking out a book does not shift
it to your bookshelf, it shifts it to your checked-out books. I think
putting it on your bookshelf would be too confusing.

Thanks for your thoughts, Brandon. At a penny a though, I guess I owe
you a dime or so. Stop by any time to collect! :-P

Cheers,
Josh

--
Josh Glover

Virtual Bookshelf Project Administrator / Developer
http://sourceforge.net/projects/vbs/

GPG keyID 0xDE8A3103 (C3E4 FA9E 1E07 BBDB 6D8B  07AB 2BF1 67A1 DE8A 3103)
gpg --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv-keys DE8A3103

[vbs-devel] Virtual Bookshelf

[Brandon A. <bra...@tf...>]

I read through Josh's notes to you about the Virtual Bookshelf, and have
added a few books of my own so far.  Below are a few thoughts that I
have so far.  Please keep in mind that I'm trying to focus on a
usability perspective, and that these are only my opinions.  Also, I am
usually not offended if you tell me to STFU. :)  Odds are, some or most
of these things have occurred to you already, which is why I wanted to
meet with you and we could just talk for a while about the project, but,
it's probably better if I get this all down in writing, that way it
looks like I'm working. :P 

- The initial interface is a bit confusing to me, at least at first. 
The category selection dropdown at the top in the middle above the
bookshelf should probably be labeled "Sort By", and the "Add to Shelf"
button should be relocated to the left "Menu" area, and, most likely
renamed "Add to My Shelf".  Maybe something a little less Microsoft-ish,
if that offends you. :)

- The books should filter properly below when the category selection bar
("Sort by" :D) is used.  I see that they do filter in the Existing books
drop down, but, I feel the list below sorting would be much more
tactile.

- If the book list is auto-sorted, you wouldn't need the "Existing
Books" drop down, or the "Owner" drop down, and could actually do away
with the whole section at the top, making the entire middle of the page
be a users bookshelf.  I believe this would be a more intuitive
interface.  Additionally, you could move the two menu items on the
right, over to the left, giving more room for the book list.  

- The search bar could be expanded to behave a little more like Amazon,
where, the drop down box with the different categories in it could be
below the search box.  Or, you could have the search category box called
"Find a Book..." and below the title, have the search box, and below
that, it could say, "Or jump to a category:" and have the category
dropdown. In Josh's spec, he has the search with many different
options.  These should be in an "Advanced Search" section, of course. 

- In the center bookshelf area, there should be a column for which user
shelf the book belongs on, as opposed to who owns the book, which I
suspect in 90% of the cases will be TFCC for us.  Or, we could just
start using the "Owner" column in this way.  Also, the status column
could list who currently has the book.  The names in these columns could
be clickable email links.

- I think when a book is clicked on in the bookshelf list, it should
bring up a new page or a window, and on this page/window the data should
be static and unchangeable.  I also think there should be an option for
the owner of the book to put comments or a review of the book, or
whatever, when they add the book, and these would be readable on this
book details page.   

- Next to each item in a listed bookshelf, there should be a link/button
that says "Reserve" or "Check Out".  Something like that, anyhow, so, a
user could do a search for Programming Perl, a page is populated with
the half a dozen books that are not in use, and can click on the button,
automatically shifting the book to their bookshelf and sending the
proper emails.  The book list should then reload to show the user as
having that book.  The button would then read "Book Returned" or "Check
In" to allow the user to put that book back.

That's all that's come to me at this point.  If I think of anything
more, I'll send it your way.  If any of this has been overly confusing,
please feel free to email me back or stop by my cube.  Also, if you
would like assistance coding, I am usually available. 

-- 
Brandon Allen - Software Engineer
Twenty First Century Communications

Email: bra...@tf...
Phone: (614) 442-1215  ext. 263