[mythtv-users] Re: Re: Cannot set a recording
Donavan Stanley
GeckoFiend at gmail.com
Mon Sep 6 13:07:09 EDT 2004
On Mon, 06 Sep 2004 12:27:31 -0400, Michael J. Sherman
<msherman at dsbox.com> wrote:
> >> Yeah, the interface just threw me for a loop. It appeared as a list >of
> >> options. It was not entirely clear that you had to scroll left/right >to
> >> get options to change. Perhaps a different UI scheme (something more
> >> standard) would be better and more intuitive; at least a little arrow
> >> indicator perhaps next to the option to denote the fact that you can >in
> >> fact go left/right to change it.
> >
> >Well, if you're using CVS you should be following the commits list,
> >which included instructions on how to use the screen (as do the
> >release notes Isaac linked to on mythtv.org). Some further work will
> >be done on this screen in the future to add visual cues to indicate
> >when you can use left/right but pretty much everything on that screen
> >can be scrolled with left/right.
>
> I think the point I was trying to get at was this interface style is
> new, and not intuitive.
>
> The options (even the ones you can move left/right) are just presented
> as a list in a listbox type of widget. To a normal computer user, that
> means you can select up and down to scroll up/down the list, then choose
> one option. The fact that you are mixing list choices with selection
> choices (left/right) breaks very standard interface conventions. And,
> IMHO, that is a Bad Thing (TM). Visual cues for knowing when to go
> left/right would be huge.
Visual clues being worked on. That being said, all it takes is to
either read the instructions once, or be told once to "get it".
> Open source software is continually dinged on the lack of usable
> interfaces; why not buck that trend and use standard/simple interface
> styles? If I showed this "new" and "improved" recording options screen
> to a non-technical person, their head would explode. I guess I could
> explain how the new options screen is not using QT widgets and it's
> themeable, and then I'm sure they would understand.
Other than the lack of a visual indicator to show you left/right how
is it prone to make someone's head explode?
> If I'm out on a limb here and nobody agrees with me, that's fine. I may
> just be unreasonable in my expecations for MythTV. I have perceived a
> negative trend in the interface over the last five months, and I just am
> only trying to voice my opinion. My wife uses our Myth box, too, so all
> of these new styles are not a good thing when they are so complicated
> and non-intuitive.
As do the wives of all the developers. As do guests in my home.
Oddly enough I haven't received any reports of heads exploding. The
UI changes that have been going on have been to make the interface
*more* usable.
If you've got specific, helpful suggestions please by all means chime
in but please keep things free of exaggeration.
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