[Sugar-devel] Initial implementation of toolbars design

[Gary C Martin]

On 28 Jul 2009, at 12:40, Simon Schampijer wrote:

> On 07/28/2009 02:51 AM, Gary C Martin wrote:
>> Hi Simon,
>>
>> On 27 Jul 2009, at 22:26, Simon Schampijer wrote:
>>
>>> On 07/18/2009 04:17 AM, Gary C Martin wrote:
>>>> Hi Caroline,
>>>>
>>>> On 17 Jul 2009, at 22:14, Caroline Meeks wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> We can put it in front of actual kids once you get a sample  
>>>>> working.
>>>>> We could even try playing the video for our existing classes. I  
>>>>> don't
>>>>> know if they'll be able to give you feedback from just seeing the
>>>>> video. Might be interesting to find out.
>>>>
>>>> Yes that's an interesting one... I have more understanding of  
>>>> usability
>>>> studies with literate adults, where you can have a controlled
>>>> environment. With the idea that you set goals/tasks to be  
>>>> completed with
>>>> the interface and ask the user to vocalise what they think they are
>>>> doing ("I'm clicking this because I think it's the search  
>>>> button...").
>>>> You only interact with them once they are clearly stuck, to help  
>>>> them
>>>> get back on track. Asking for any-ones opinion is usually frowned  
>>>> upon
>>>> in usability studies, as opinion is almost always different from  
>>>> actual
>>>> behaviour – but some opinions are better than nothing, which is  
>>>> why I
>>>> keep asking :-)
>>>>
>>>> Perhaps I should work with Walter and Aleksey's initial toolbar  
>>>> code and
>>>> make an identical test clone of TA but with the new toolbar  
>>>> design (I
>>>> can use Aleksey's Write mock-up code as an example)? Then you  
>>>> could let
>>>> the class (or a random selection of the class) use it for some  
>>>> tasks and
>>>> watch how well (or not) they manage with the new interface?
>>>>
>>>> Simon: have you used TA yet in your lessons?
>>>
>>> Yes, the problem is, that I won't get into class before September
>>> again - we have summer holidays :/
>>>
>>> About the design - as already noted, the current implementation does
>>> not match gary's mockups. I think the mockups are more consistent in
>>> using icons in the primary toolbar. Having the text entry field
>>> (activity name) present, could help the users that know Sugar  
>>> already.
>>> They would not feel that much lost.
>>>
>>> Can we get mockups for Browse? I would do the changes then there.
>>
>> Sure, will do.
>
> After discussing with Tomeu and Aleksey we thought about providing a  
> widget for the standard toolbar. Looking at your mockups this would  
> be:
>
> title entry, [...], keep button, stop button
>
> The sharing one can be optional - as not all activities have the  
> sharing facilities. Does that sound good?

Sounds good.

> Other thoughts?


1). I was hoping for more feedback before we lock things down, but  
it's been pretty quiet. I was hoping to hack TurtleArt with a  
temporary toolbar imitation and get some real usability input from  
kids, but not sure we have the time?

2). Is it possible to have the "title entry" input field default width  
set to allow for 9 icons on the right (this is the maximum needed for  
current Activity designs), then allow it scale down to some min width  
if extra icons are added? I would rather there was a little  
flexibility in the "title entry" rather than have the "Stop" and  
"Keep" buttons be the first to disappear.

3). FWIW, I'm considering the "share with" icon should really be over  
on the right (if sharing feature are present). So the far right icon  
order would be "share with", "keep version", "stop".

Regards,
--Gary