From kde-multimedia  Sat May 19 10:23:50 2012
From: Hans Chen <hanswchen () gmail ! com>
Date: Sat, 19 May 2012 10:23:50 +0000
To: kde-multimedia
Subject: Re: [KDE Usability] KMix UI orientation
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I prefer the vertical layout and would like to give some arguments for it,
since I didn't see anyone mentioning them:

- In the horizontal layout, the mute button is on the right side of the
slider. This is a bit counter-intuitive since the slider goes to the left
when muted. Of course the placement of the application icon and mute icon
can be swapped, but this is again a bit strange - the application icon is
what identifies each slider and is also connected to the text.

- I'm not a usability expert, but if I remember correctly, it's easier to
move the mouse cursor up and down than horizontal, especially on touchpads.
This is also why I don't support knobs, doing a circular motion is even
harder.

- I also agree that scrolling up and down is more intuitive in a vertical
layout, as mentioned by others.

With that said, the current tray popup using the vertical layout could
definitely be improved. I expected it to look more like the mixer window,
i.e., vertical layouts in a horizontal layout, if you get what I mean.
Regarding the text label, would it be possible to only show e.g. the
application name (Amarok in this case) and the rest of the text in a
tooltip?

*Conclusion:* I'm against removing the vertical layout for the reasons
mentioned above, but would welcome improvements to it.

Cheers,
Hans

On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 7:09 PM, Eike Hein <hein@kde.org> wrote:

> On 05/17/2012 08:50 PM, Trever Fischer wrote:
>
>> I'm starting to have a look at a lot of the papercuts in kdemultimedia,
>> trying to polish up all the little details that bother me.
>>
>> Here's my first question:
>>
>> Does KMix really need vertical slider orientation?
>>
>
> FWIW, I recently had some involvement with this one ...
>
> - KMix has an option to select the orientation, but the tray popup
>  used to ignore this setting; only the main window would follow it.
>
> - The tray popup used to use vertical orientation, and from the above,
>  this meant that setting the orientation to horizontal would have no
>  effect on the popup.
>
> - One of the early KDE 4.8.x releases introduced a change that made
>  the popup use horizontal orientation, again regardless of the
>  setting. Immediately we got angry users on #kde who despised this.
>
> - Due to those angry users, I had a look at the code and made the
>  popup follow the setting. As a result, due to KMix defaulting to
>  vertical orientation, the popup is back to being vertical by de-
>  fault in 4.8.3 or so.
>
> Personally, I prefer horizontal orientation, but this is definitely
> a matter of preference and there are vocal users who prefer vertical.
>
>
> --
> Best regards,
> Eike Hein
>
> ______________________________**_________________
> kde-usability mailing list
> kde-usability@kde.org
> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/**listinfo/kde-usability<https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-usability>
>

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I prefer the vertical layout and would like to give some arguments for it, =
since I didn&#39;t see anyone mentioning them:<br><br>- In the horizontal l=
ayout, the mute button is on the right side of the slider. This is a bit co=
unter-intuitive since the slider goes to the left when muted. Of course the=
 placement of the application icon and mute icon can be swapped, but this i=
s again a bit strange - the application icon is what identifies each slider=
 and is also connected to the text.<br>

<br>- I&#39;m not a usability expert, but if I remember correctly, it&#39;s=
 easier to move the mouse cursor up and down than horizontal, especially on=
 touchpads. This is also why I don&#39;t support knobs, doing a circular mo=
tion is even harder.<br>

<br>- I also agree that scrolling up and down is more intuitive in a vertic=
al layout, as mentioned by others.<br><br>With that said, the current tray =
popup using the vertical layout could definitely be improved. I expected it=
 to look more like the mixer window, i.e., vertical layouts in a horizontal=
 layout, if you get what I mean. Regarding the text label, would it be poss=
ible to only show e.g. the application name (Amarok in this case) and the r=
est of the text in a tooltip?<br>

<br><b>Conclusion:</b> I&#39;m against removing the vertical layout for the=
 reasons mentioned above, but would welcome improvements to it.<br><br>Chee=
rs,<br>Hans<br><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 7:09 =
PM, Eike Hein <span dir=3D"ltr">&lt;<a href=3D"mailto:hein@kde.org" target=
=3D"_blank">hein@kde.org</a>&gt;</span> wrote:<br>

<blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1p=
x #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div class=3D"im">On 05/17/2012 08:50 PM, Tr=
ever Fischer wrote:<br>
<blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1p=
x #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
I&#39;m starting to have a look at a lot of the papercuts in kdemultimedia,=
<br>
trying to polish up all the little details that bother me.<br>
<br>
Here&#39;s my first question:<br>
<br>
Does KMix really need vertical slider orientation?<br>
</blockquote>
<br></div>
FWIW, I recently had some involvement with this one ...<br>
<br>
- KMix has an option to select the orientation, but the tray popup<br>
 =A0used to ignore this setting; only the main window would follow it.<br>
<br>
- The tray popup used to use vertical orientation, and from the above,<br>
 =A0this meant that setting the orientation to horizontal would have no<br>
 =A0effect on the popup.<br>
<br>
- One of the early KDE 4.8.x releases introduced a change that made<br>
 =A0the popup use horizontal orientation, again regardless of the<br>
 =A0setting. Immediately we got angry users on #kde who despised this.<br>
<br>
- Due to those angry users, I had a look at the code and made the<br>
 =A0popup follow the setting. As a result, due to KMix defaulting to<br>
 =A0vertical orientation, the popup is back to being vertical by de-<br>
 =A0fault in 4.8.3 or so.<br>
<br>
Personally, I prefer horizontal orientation, but this is definitely<br>
a matter of preference and there are vocal users who prefer vertical.<span =
class=3D"HOEnZb"><font color=3D"#888888"><br>
<br>
<br>
-- <br>
Best regards,<br>
Eike Hein</font></span><div class=3D"HOEnZb"><div class=3D"h5"><br>
______________________________<u></u>_________________<br>
kde-usability mailing list<br>
<a href=3D"mailto:kde-usability@kde.org" target=3D"_blank">kde-usability@kd=
e.org</a><br>
<a href=3D"https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-usability" target=3D"_=
blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/<u></u>listinfo/kde-usability</a><br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br>

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