Re: [Usability] Context for Evo 2 Mockups.

[Roberto Rosselli Del Turco <rosselli ling unipi it>]

Anna Marie Dirks wrote:

[...]

> I would be most appreciative of any specific, concrete ideas about how 
> we might improve the usability of this design.

I have stretched my graphic abilities to the limit (the pain :) to 
produce the following mockups:

http://islp.di.unipi.it/bifrost/altri/immagini/evo2_mail_RRDT-1.png
http://islp.di.unipi.it/bifrost/altri/immagini/evo2_mail_RRDT-2.png

Foreword: while I fully share your goals of a manageable and 
maintainable code base, I don't really know how my proposal would impact 
Evo's internals, you're going to tell me.

Notes:

* main goal is to simplify the UI, this is done essentially by removing 
the "loose" toolbar I mentioned in my previous messages and the 
navigation area:

	- the search tools are available as a separate pop up window, search 
icon moved to the main toolbar (wrong dimensions, sorry);

	- the progress bar is gone to become another pop up window;

	- the status bar could also go, but it doesn't really seem necessary at 
this point.

* if the apps are truly separated (i.e. each in its own window), you can 
open the other apps by

	- clicking on their icon in a "control center" window (see my previous 
mail);

	- choosing the relative items from a new "Window" menu;

	- using the correspondant shortcuts;

	- choosing the appropriate item from context-sensitive menus (e.g., 
"compose mail to this address").

* if the apps have to live in the same window, instead of the navigation 
 buttons you could use tabs as shown in evo2_mail_RRDT-2.png (the 
highlighted one is the calendar instead of the mail one, sorry): this is 
perhaps suboptimal as the icons are smaller, tooltips could help; and 
they're not aligned with the main view on the right (the mockup of the 
guy on Slashdot was more consistent).

On a personal level, the first mockup it's just how I would imagine a 
GNOME 2 mail app: simple layout, lots of functionalities at hand, 
esthetically pleasant. And, on the conceptual level, IMHO it is more 
convenient having the apps in separate windows so that you can 
drag'n'drop and/or cut and paste between them.

Hope this helps.

Ciao

--
Roberto Rosselli Del Turco      e-mail:	rosselli at cisi.unito.it
Dipartimento di Scienze			rosselli at ling.unipi.it
del Linguaggio			Then spoke the thunder	DA
Universita' di Torino		Datta: what have we given?  (TSE)

  Hige sceal the heardra,     heorte the cenre,
  mod sceal the mare,       the ure maegen litlath.  (Maldon 312-3)