Calling all UI Designers for new Basic Skin

[tschak909]

* tschak909 points to that sketch above. ;-)

-Thom

[krys]

*Krys scratches his head wondering what the hell tschak909 is pointing at, can a brother get a link.. I don't think my web filter is letting it through

[tschak909]

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/3946/mainmenumocksq2.png

That's the little sketchlet that los came up with.

-Thom

[krys]

Thanks Thom.
As for the layout, I kind of like the roll over pop-up menu that currently exists. It is quick and requires less button pushing.
ex: you want to watch the movie "Iron Man"

UI2 -you bring up the menu, hover over media, click on video = 1 click
proposed- bring up menu, click media, click video = 2 clicks

maybe I just have a disposition for rollover pop-ups

The proposed system would also present a problem (IMHO) because if you wanted to go from the media page to the lighting page you would then need to click a "back" button then click lighting, where as in UI2 you would just move your mouse

[tschak909]

okay, cool... diverging ideas...

let's try to develop both sketches a bit further as far as basic interaction.. even if it is just something we can print out, and tap our fingers on.

I'll try to block some color in to see what we could come up with color wise on los's sketch in the mean time..

nothing special, i'll just fill in the boxes with some colors/alpha and add a photo background.

-Thom

[krys]

Is it possible to save drawings on wiki, as imageshack is blocked where I am at most of the day which leaves me to view on my iphone...

[tschak909]

To give an idea. This was a blocking that I did for a potential Compose Mail screen for orbiter:

http://imagebin.ca/view/TETagYe.html

-Thom

[tschak909]

wiki's uploads may still be broken.. if it is, try imageshack.ca ... :-/

-Thom

[hari]

not that i am aware of..

[los93sol]

Krys, I tend to agree that the popups are functionally quite slick, my logic is that less is more visibly and for me at least keeping the focus on the media is very important so the more of the media I can see the better in my mind.  I'm not opposed to the popups though, do you have some suggestions to pull it off cleanly with a vertical layout?

[krys]

i can view imagebin.ca just fine, that looks nice thom, very clean and I like translucent overlays like that

Los, the wheels are turning... keep going on your route, and i will see if i can make a pop-up idea you can agree with

[tschak909]

Thanks, just to note, this is just a blocking, I did it in about 5 mins to get an idea of space. I think we'll do a LOT of these.

-Thom

[krys]

I was thinking something similar to the current UI2 with a twist. How about instead of the column popping up directly over the tab on the bottom of the screen, the column always pops up on the left hand side like in this picture. This way the menu is never covering up middle (usually the focus of the media).  We would set it up to where you dont actually have to hover over the buttons that pop-up, just the pointer moving/down would highlight your selection.

http://imagebin.ca/view/8Va8qFk.html

imagine the black frame is the frame of your TV

[skeptic]

Are you guys interested in end-user (ie me) suggestions?  I really doubt I'll have any time to actually help create UI updates, but as a user I have some ideas even if they may not be feasible.  I can also create some rough drawings (sticking to the recommended sizes for buttons and such).

For example, adding to the rough sketch los put up and the pop-up/new menu screen discussion.  Instead of a pop-up extending to the right from the item (media or whatever), have the item menu options (tv, audio, video, games, etc.) appear along the bottom of the screen or in a column on the right hand side.  Additionally, if possible also shrink the current media just enough to fit inside the "frame" created by the menu and top/side pop-ups using the same design object as the video in the on screen remote in the current UI1 (I hope I'm using at least close to the correct terminology).  To me this would give the slick gee-whiz factor so many people ask for while still maintaining the LMCE "media first" philosophy and retaining quick access to menu/submenu items.

Just off the top of my head while reading through the thread and I'm not sure how feasible it is, but I think it at least somewhat addresses all the "what about" questions. 

edit:  Looks like Krys had a similar idea as well.  I'm slow about replying after I open a thread in a new tab. 

[randomblink]

I'm not a Linux Programmer (yet), so I can't help out with anything other than visual ideas, wiki work, and my opinion.
Basic Skin Development Page

Hope this helps. I'm looking forward to actually getting LinuxMCE installed once I buy my house. I start house shopping next week!