Re: [Evolution] Evolution 2.0 UI proposal

[Jason Tackaberry <tack auc ca>]

On Thu, 2003-07-10 at 18:44, Ettore Perazzoli wrote:
> Here at Ximian we have been brainstorming a bit about what happens
> next in the Evolution world.  One of the ideas that has come up is a
> substantial overhaul of Evolution's UI.

Excellent!  It's really exciting to see some activity in this area.

Here are my comments:

      * Overall: I really like the new layout.  I agree the shortcut bar
        isn't very useful, and it is made redundant by the new
        navigation buttons.  Also, the only time I ever look at the
        Summary page is when Evo is busy loading my IMAP folders.  I
        won't miss it at all.

      * It's not obvious from the mockups whether or not it will be
        possible to collapse trees.  (i.e. I don't see any +/- button
        there.)  Hopefully that will still be possible.

      * It should be possible to reorder/remove or at least collapse the
        top-level categories (i.e. the "On My Computer," "On
        sensitive.org," and "Virtual Folders" that appear on the list in
        evo_mail2.png).  In my case, I simply do not use Local Folders
        in Evo 1.4 except to access my Calendar and Contacts.  And with
        the proposed 2.0 UI, the "On My Computer" items would be
        completely useless to me.  I'd rather my remote IMAP folders
        appear at the top of that list since they are the most
        important.

      * Should the search bar at the top be labeled with "Search"?   It
        might improve usability to have "Search for [Messages
        Containing] <input field>" instead of "[Message Contains] <input
        field>"

      * I don't see a Clear button for the search bar.  How will that
        work?

      * In the calendar/contacts screenshots, I see a "Filter by
        Category" list.  Will that also be available on the in the mail
        view? 

      * I don't see the vertical separators in the toolbar for the mail
        view, but I assume that's just a simple oversight.

      * If you axe the Summary, you'll only have 5 navigation buttons
        (or whatever you call them), and that will look unbalanced. :)

That's it for now.  Of course I have tons and tons of features I'd like
to see in the new Evo that will help me better manage my mail, but I
understand this is just to discuss the UI. :)

Cheers,
Jason.

-- 
Jason Tackaberry  ::  tack auc ca  :: 705-949-2301 x330
Academic Computing Support Specialist
Information Technology Services
Algoma University College  ::  www.auc.ca