Re: [Muine] Re: Muine UI idea for the future

[Jorn Baayen <jorn nl linux org>]

On Fri, 2004-01-30 at 13:05, tvon etria org wrote:
> On Fri, Jan 30, 2004 at 11:43:04AM +0100, Raphael J. Schmid wrote:
> > Shuffle Playlist -- Absolutely
> > 
> > Repeat Song -- Yes, and I was preparing to suggest
> > that, too. Now you've been quicker than me. But: 
> > there should be an easy way to either) Repeat Song
> > or) Repeat Album or) Repeat Playlist. Maybe even
> > "Repeat Interpret". I'm still wondering hard about a
> > good way to do this.
> 
> I agree.  I personally have never wanted to repeat a single song, but a
> playlist or an album or something along those lines.  I think the most
> common use would be playlist ('repeat everything you see here') and I
> think that would be suitable for a default...imo.

Repeating the same songs in the same order over and over again strikes
me as very weird behaviour.. and getting boring real soon. But.. it
seems many people use that. So I think we'll probably have to add a
"Repeat playlist" menu item.

Or.. do people use repeat mainly to keep their playing pumping out
random music? In that case, my idea for playing random music would
ensure there are always 10 random to-be-played songs in the playlist..
so repeat wouldnt be necessary then ..

> > Volume -- You didn't add the volume control button,
> > still it is a little disturbing. We already have one in the
> > GNOME panel (by default, so it's somebody's own fault
> > if they remove it). That's exactly what makes Windows
> > so confusing to new users: the myriards of ways to do
> > the same thing.
> 
> I had never thought of this but it is a good point.  There is no reason
> to (in a default setup) have volume control on the panel as well as in
> an application.  In many cases it makes things problematic, for example
> with my desktop the panel volume controls the master, while the app
> volume controls the PCM.  If I adjust one it can throw the other
> completely out of whack.  Its a mess. .  IMO it should be removed from
> the default layout, though I do think there should be a way to add it if
> so desired.

(see my other mail about this)

>  
> > Other than that -- In my opinion Muine should (for the
> > most part of it) stick to its current GUI. The UIs seen
> > in muine1.png and muine3.png are so... I don't know,
> > complicated already again.
> 
> I don't entirely agree with this...so here are some more comments for
> ye:
> 
> Alternate views:
> 
> I love the super-mini-me mode, as well as the mini-with-album|visual

Changing the window size from *within* the window (menuitem, button,
whatever) tends to be really confusing. Just an initial reaction of..
"WTF" when a user does that. I think we should stay away from things
like that. 

> 
> Progress slider:
> 
> Two thoughts here.  I did indeed miss the visual progress indicator when
> I fired up Muine for the first time.  I'm not sure why.  My
> "Monday morning Freud" opinion is that it makes the user happier because
> they get a sense of constant accomplishment.  Every time they look at
> the player they see this little bar further along...I mean, progress is
> a good thing these days, yes?  Granted, this is all lost when the next
> song kicks in...but, whatever.  At any rate, I would like to see a
> progress bar, but not a slider.  I think its very rare for most people
> to want to skip around within a song, and these people can do it some
> other way than in the default UI.  It is also somewhat confusing and
> problematic when it is near the volume control button.  How often do you
> think someone slides the bar when they want to adjust the volume, only
> to find their song all fouled up?

lol, nice explanation :P

but you don't get your Freudian satisfaction from watching the elapsed
time label tick on and on? ;)

anyway i think a slider in the main ui is a no way.. because, indeed,
confusion with the volume button but also it is hardly ever used. it
definetely is a feature that should be available, but in the main ui is
just a bit too much imho.

and i think.. a progress bar would be a bit too much too, as it takes a
lot of space. although hilarious i think your Freudian argument is very
valid ;)

> 
> Default layout:
> 
> I think the playback-with-playlist is a good default in general.  I do
> like moving the playlist buttons (add song/album) to the bottom of the
> window, though I think they should be horozintal and not vertical (to
> take up less space).  Shuffle/repeat, I'm not sure what to do about
> these, though I do like having the options.

With the current layout moving those to the bottom would be a little
odd, huge waste of space too..
and.. in general I think it is good to have actions grouped together at
the top of the window, so that they are easily accessed. having buttons
scattered all over the window might be prettier but.. definitely not
easier to use i think.


Cheers,

Jorn