Re: [Usability] suggestions to ameliorate the ergonomics of totem

["Diego Moya" <turingt gmail com>]

2008/8/8 Iain * <iaingnome gmail com>

On Fri, Aug 8, 2008 at 1:42 PM, Diego Moya <turingt gmail com> wrote:

> I'd like to add that volume is not available by 1 click (at least in the
> Ubuntu default configuration). As the volume slider is hidden under a
> button, changing volume require 3 clicks (show slider, choose volume, click
> out to dismiss slider).

Yes it is, if you press and drag the volume button.

In that case it's no longer 1 click, is 1 drag! Substantially more complex and error prone, for what should be a simple task.

If you have to drag the slider, it has a big problem that you force the volume to be through all the intermediate states. This has the potential of setting a temporary peak in the volume that can hurt users ears (I know it because I've suffered it), which is a major usability problem, not just an annoyance.
 

But the major fallacy in this whole discussion seems to be the belief
that to make something more usable you need to reduce every operation
to one click.

Not every operation, just the more frequent ones.
Also the hidden volume slider has the problem of  not providing feedback of what the current volume is, until you begin to interact with it.

I've never understood the rationale of Gnome's control volume to be hidden under a popup (this happens on the panel control, too). Why would someone want to NOT know the current volume percentage, especially when inside a movie player?