Community-driven redesign / new theme for Paroli

[pike]

Hi

> Hey great! All 'design guidelines' and things like that are great! I'd
> like you to explain more of what's happening in the screenshots. Tell
> what is new, why have you done it, what's the thinking behind it etc.

I find it more easier to explain using pictures :-)
Got a graphic mind I guess.

Take a look at
http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Image:Bab-1.2-3screens.png

Any good interface has it's on "Rythm & Rhyme". On
a single screen, your eye will catch the hidden grid
and swerve around primary and secondary options in
a split second. This works subliminally - you wouldn't
even notice, but this is what makes an interface
'feel good'. This is even more true for phones, small
screen, use it with one eye and one finger in a busy
environment .. and between screens, your memory will
recognize changes in that "Rythm and Rhyme", too. Yes,
a good interface is much like a poem, or a piece of
music :-)

.. so I was trying to find a grid, a basic layout,
that fits all purposes. At the same time, this grid
should be numberfriendly, as it has to be programmed
in edje. You need "a few classes" of fonts, not a
new font on every page. Same with colors, shades, etc.

So that's basicly what this was
http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Image:BAB-List-default-1.0-grid.png
.. but it's already outdated :-)

Such a grid should include whatever options
you might think of in the future - dialogs, extra
buttons, etc .. so that's basicly this
http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Image:BAB-List-default-1.0.png

For example, this "big blocker bar" (a modal dialog) is not
actually used anywhere, but if it *would* be, it should be
there (there is a modal dialog in the "dial" and
when "sending" an sms, btw). Same for the "informational
bar" - a thing that should hide itself once you touch the
screen imho - its not used anywhere - but if it would
be, it should be right there. And hey, it could say
"52 messages, 4 unread", for an instance, couldnt it ? :-)

 > what is new

As little as possible :-D
But, as I'm sketching and using the phone, a few things
are indeed new and needed imho.

- The "next", "back" paradigm doesnt really work for
   me. I want to know *what* "next" is. "back" is not
   always where I came from. And above that, I don't
   always know where I am (this happens particularly
   in the settings, currently). So I've changed "back"
   and "next" to a virtual "path" and an "action".
   There could be more actions, actually (eg in sms|read,
   you can "delete" and "reply" a message). If you
   click on an action, that should become part of
   your path in the next screen. For example, if
   you are in "Setting | Wifi", the main action is
   "Scan". In the next screen, the path should be
   "Settings | Wifi | Scan". Action and Paths are
   CamelCased.


- the "panel" (the top bar) should be removed in all
   screens if we are in windowed mode imho, because you now
   get two rows of similar icons. Ergo, there can be
   nothing essential in Paroli's panel that's not in the
   Illume panel. And hence, you need a different button
   to "close" a paroli app (like "msgs") when you are
   not in full screen - because the clock should not be here.
   In fact, it should look like a "close" button: if you tap
   around Illume, you will find the "chooser" is still
   hanging around and not responding until you "close"
   the other screen.
   So that's what the funny circle is in the 3rd image at
   http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Image:BAB-List-default-1.0.png
   , a 'close button'.
   I also think the main screen, the launcher, should
   indicate it's waiting for the other app to quit. It
   would not harm if you are in fullscreen (since you won't see
   it) and it would be very beneficial in windowed mode.
   I have a screenshot of that, here ..

- If you look at
   http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Image:Bab-1.2-3screens.png
   you'll see there are more ideas - and I have still more
   on paper. Most of them are optional. But I understand,
   doing something like what I sketched in the Launcher
   requires changing the whole way it works (in Python),
   not just changing edje files :-|

   The most important thing is, I think, I differentiate
   between "primary" and "secondary" options:

   The screen is divided in lines.

   Each line can only have one primary, big, white, option.
   If you click it, the background color of the whole line
   quickly hilites before the screen changes.

   A line can have several secondary (small, grey, lowercased)
   options. If you click it, only the font color quickly
   switches before the screen changes.

   I think this differentation is usefull, as it gives a user
   an idea about the "default" action - go forward - and several
   sideoptions - "delete that thing, go back" - without visually
   cluttering the screen.

Anyway .. that's a lot of text. Maybe I should get
into edje. Or maybe I should get XULRunner to work
on my phone :-D

$2c,
*-pike