Better UI

If you dream about having BirdieSync casting your horoscope, this is the place to ask for it...
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ChristianRR
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2011 6:56 am

Better UI

Post by ChristianRR »

Better UI on phone and computer.

Phone:
- 2 big same-sized buttons and/or icons, center screen, BELOW title and text. Connect/Disconnect, Sync.
- Settings and Info should be under the Menu button, as they should be for every Android app. One more click is no bother because BirdieSync settings are rarely changed.
- Possibly, verbose scrolling console screen, switched to from Menu button, or area below main screen buttons, with on/off in Settings

Computer:
- Reset button next to each category in Activation tab, or at least a title with the category name in bold in the dialog after clicking Reset Activation. I unchecked my Contacts category, then clicked Reset Synchronization, expecting the remaining checked category to be reset, but instead what was reset was the SELECTED category, which of course was Contacts. The dialog box does say what's being reset, but it's just a word in the middle of a sentence, and who reads complete dialogs anyway? Should be "EVENTS: do you want to reset them etc. blablabla?" Yes/No buttons.
- Right-click context menu with all relevant choices: Reset, Activate, Delete, etc. Is it really that hard?
- Don't clear History after disconnect!

Birdy
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Posts: 3118
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2006 11:43 am
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Re: Better UI

Post by Birdy »

Hello ChristianRR,

Thanks for writing all these suggestions. Here are my comments:
Phone:
- 2 big same-sized buttons and/or icons, center screen, BELOW title and text. Connect/Disconnect, Sync.
I'm not sure it would be nice to have the button below the title and text. Actually this look and feel is like the iPhone one. But some efforts could be made to center BirdieSync name, change the colors of buttons and have similar sizes. There is no Sync button for the moment but it could be a feature to add.
- Settings and Info should be under the Menu button, as they should be for every Android app. One more click is no bother because BirdieSync settings are rarely changed.
I didn't like the idea that Settings menu could be hidden. Connection settings are really important. It was important that the user didn't miss it.
- Possibly, verbose scrolling console screen, switched to from Menu button, or area below main screen buttons, with on/off in Settings
That would be another feature.
Computer:
- Reset button next to each category in Activation tab, or at least a title with the category name in bold in the dialog after clicking Reset Activation. I unchecked my Contacts category, then clicked Reset Synchronization, expecting the remaining checked category to be reset, but instead what was reset was the SELECTED category, which of course was Contacts. The dialog box does say what's being reset, but it's just a word in the middle of a sentence, and who reads complete dialogs anyway? Should be "EVENTS: do you want to reset them etc. blablabla?" Yes/No buttons.
I understand the problem. There could a confusion with the checkbox which are not linked to the buttons at the bottom but indicates if the category of items is synchronized or not. The problem is that putting this button at the right of each line would take a lot of room and would be very repetitive. Another solution could be to use an icon instead of the checkbox but it may be less obvious to the user that it can be clicked.
Regarding the dialog box, there is also the icon that reminds you the impacted category of items.
- Right-click context menu with all relevant choices: Reset, Activate, Delete, etc. Is it really that hard?
It's not that hard and I think it's a good idea. :)
- Don't clear History after disconnect!
I think this is because only the history of the mobile device which is currently connected is displayed. But it may be possible to display the history for all devices or give the option to filter it.
Birdy

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