[mythtv-users] Re: Usability Issues: WAS Re: Simultaneousrecordings fail spectacularly [SOLVED!]

[James C. Dastrup]

Although I think there's room for improvement, I think Myth does a 
darn good job at the UI. Anytime you take the features of a full 
keyboard-and-mouse system and port it to the buttons on a remote, 
you're going to have problems.  But with that said, my wife (NOT a 
techie in anyway) and my kid (6 year old) have absolutely NO 
problem working MythTV. Some of it needs work, and if you want to 
use the advanced features, anything beyond a Tivo or other PVR, 
you better have a programmable remote. I use the Harmony 880, 
which has a great display for adding in those custom buttons.
 
> things like using the "Menu" button to select the channel
> in the EPG have *GOT* to be fixed.
 
Wha? I press OK (Select) in the EPG and it works fine.
 
So I think we have the starting point, but just add a few extra touches,
such as, If you're supposed to use the Right Arrow Key to pull
up a new menu, then the GUI should indicate that with an right-arrow
icon or something.
 
 

________________________________

From: mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org on behalf of Mike Frisch
Sent: Fri 11/4/2005 11:03 AM
To: mythtv-users at mythtv.org
Subject: [mythtv-users] Re: Usability Issues: WAS Re: Simultaneousrecordings fail spectacularly [SOLVED!]



On Fri, Nov 04, 2005 at 12:42:28PM -0500, R. Geoffrey Newbury wrote:
> Thank you for opening this can of worms. I thought it was just me. Glad to
> know I'm not alone.

Nope, you're definitely not alone.

> We CAN do better.
> If someone points me to the right place in the code, at least I can
> provide some pseudocode for the logical structure which *I* think is
> needed at various places. (Probably the wrong structure on the first pass,
> but a place to start.)

I think a good starting point would be to 'storyboard' or flowchart an
improved OSD/menu system (perhaps based on the behaviour of existing
STBs- satellite receivers, PVRs, cable boxes, etc).

Maybe it's just my configuration (although I used somebody else's
.lircrc) but, things like using the "Menu" button to select the channel
in the EPG have *GOT* to be fixed.

The EPG/menu interactions don't flow well compared to standalone STBs.

I'd be willing to help in any way possible.  I am a professional
software developer who has built UIs for more than 10 years now.


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