Usability Review of OpenMoko GTK+ Applications

[Thomas Wood]

On Tue, 2008-03-11 at 13:51 +0100, Marcus Bauer wrote:
> 
> I'm using the Neo on a daily basis and am developing for it, I'll  add
> some of my experiences here.

It'd be great if you have a chance to look into any of the issues you've
raised as well, from a development standpoint.


> > * Add a running indicator and a close button to items in the application
> > list if they are running. This is really a work around  as we do not
> > have proper session management yet, but it is nicer than having two
> > separate lists for applications.
> 
> Isn't the power button enough for quitting running apps? I wouldn't add
> anything to the app list - to fiddely. KISS...

I think there is plenty of space for a close button "X" to the right.
The problem with using the power button is that it is completely
unobvious to new users. Not to mention it's not particularly easy to
use.

> > Contacts Application
> > --------------------
> > 
> > * Remove tabs from bottom and buttons from top of index page
> 
> The toolbar button on the top give quick access to the most wanted
> functions: "send sms", "call", "add new contact" - I use them a lot and
> think they are very useful.

I would suggest moving them to the details page. As long as the
switching between list and details is quick enough, I think this
wouldn't be a problem.

> > * Switch to a contact details when list item is clicked
> 
> When you use your fingers to select an entry you do not always select
> the right one on the first go, thus the split of actions "selecting" and
> "showing details" makes a lot of sense to me. I would leave it like it
> is.

I think this is a good point. Perhaps the main problem I have is that
new users find it very difficult to locate the details button. Perhaps
we need to make it more obvious. How about replacing the new button with
edit, and moving new into a menu? Presumable Edit will be used much more
often than New.

> > * Add groups button to toolbar in details page
> 
> The groups tab is the only one I would move elsewhere into a better
> context (i.e. "Add new contact" and "Edit contact")

I think that means you agree?

> > * Remove communication history page(?)
> 
> So far everyone told me that this is a cool feature missing on all other
> phones. I love it ;-)

Interesting, I guess I rarely look at my call history anyway. You can't
do any thing with it, so I don't really see what it's usefulness is.

> What I mostly miss:
> - a category "mobile" for the type of phone number

Probably a one line patch.

> - more contact details

Such as? I didn't want to make it too complicated here. Phone, E-mail
and Address and Company seemed the most likely used fields to me.

> - a remarks field

Personally, I can't really see how this makes sense in a contacts
application. Keeping it simple as possible was my main goal.

> > Status bar
> > ----------
> > 
> > The icons in the bar at the top of the screen should not be interactive,
> > as they are too small to use with a finger. This means all the top icons
> > should not respond to clicks and it should be used for displaying status
> > only.
> 
> Not everything needs to be finger usable - actually I wouldn't give up
> on the icon responses, I use them a lot and would even extend them. When
> I have a stylus then I can gain quick access, when I don't then I go
> through the Today Application.
> 
> Especially as we have such a high resolution screen which is just fun to
> use with a stylus too, not just with the fingers.

I can't see the link between high resolution and stylus usability.
Surely higher resolution makes it even more difficult to be accurate!

Anyway, as the Neo does not have a stylus holder, it'd be really nice if
the interface was fully usable without a stylus. This includes not
accidentally clicking status icons with your thumb.

> > I'd like to suggest adding a bar at the bottom of the screen that is
> > divided equally into three or less buttons. One of these buttons would
> > be used for taking the user back to the home screen.
> 
> The screen is already so small, adding another bar takes away valuable
> space. The user can go back to the home screen with the second button
> already - that is a very good solution and very quick too.

I find the hardware buttons on the Neo fairly difficult to use because
of the placement on the case and also the quality of the micro switches.
I'd like not to have to move my hands around the case just to navigate
my way around the software.

In addition, I would probably suggest reducing the height of the status
bar a little and maximising the use of the application area. This is why
I would like to integrate the tabs and toolbars in the main
applications.

> > Application menus could be made accessible by either the left of the top
> > status bar (with appropriate indicator next to the application name), or
> > from an extra button in the bottom bar.
> 
> IMHO menues should be up to the applications - for the window manager
> the mantra should be: KISS, keep it simple, stupid. 
> 
> Plus: many apps don't need an application menu bar - think of the dialer
> and the calculator. Menu bars are an old relict from the 80ies - if
> there is a good thing about Web2.0 then it is the death of menu bars :)


I definitely don't want to see menubars! Also, I want a "application
menu" button to appear only if the application has a menu. The fact is,
some applications are bound to require menus to keep their main
interface clear, so we should provide a convenient place for the menu to
appear from, rather than having a menubar take up more space in the UI.

> > Keyboard
> > --------
[...]
> > If it is not possible to bring up the keyboard on entry tap, then it
> > should be enabled and disabled by a button in the bottom bar.
> 
> A bottom bar is the wrong solution for the problem (of only two hardware
> buttons). Again this could be done with the second hardware button,
> adding a button to the aux menu. The bottom button bar will most of the
> time eat valuable screen estate.

Again, personally I don't see any of the hardware buttons on the Neo as
usable, except for turning on and off the phone and perhaps unlocking
it.


Regards,

Thomas

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