[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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