Re: [Rhythmbox-devel] UI suggestion for 2 (3) bugs with mock up

[Thomas Kirby <t c kirby durham ac uk>]

> have I could up with these 4 UI suggestions
> http://www.heko.dk/~maj/a/rb-no_toolbar/no_toolbar.svg
> http://www.heko.dk/~maj/a/rb-no_toolbar/no_toolbar_search.svg
> 
> http://www.heko.dk/~maj/a/rb-no_toolbar/no_toolbar_sources_right.svg
> http://www.heko.dk/~maj/a/rb-no_toolbar/no_toolbar_sources_right_search.svg

> I would say that because the duration bar is horizontal, buttons that
> have arrows horizontally are related. So, I would think it would be
> very unlogic if a button with a right arrow moves down in the song
> browser.
> 
> That's why I moved the Next and Previous buttons. Now they are real
> Next and Previous buttons, would I say.
> 
> In addition the Play button points right into the songs browser.

I can see your point when it comes to the arrangement of the previous
and next buttons, but I have two criticisms:

1) The button bar doesn't look right: the most important control buttons
have been moved to an area with lower visual priority, where people are
less likely to be able to find them easily. They could get "lost"
amongst all the library UI.

2) Most people expect "previous" and "next" buttons on audio equipment
to be horizontally, not vertically, aligned. Although strictly speaking
it makes sense that they relate to "up" and "down", I would argue that
it is more likely to confuse people, as it violates the precedent set by
almost every other audio device and application in existence.

As I understand it, the bugs you mentioned relate to the _behaviour_ of
the UI rather than the layout, which perhaps does need some attention.

That's my $0.02 anyway.
-- 
Tom Kirby