activity configuration UI

[Thomas Pfeiffer]

On 28.03.2012 13:17, Aaron J. Seigo wrote:
> hi everyone.

Hi Aaron

> please take a look at the attached screenshot of the activity configuration.
> (ignore the rendering issue with the selected wallpaper.) on smaller
> resolution screens this is what it looks like; with icon settings tweaked for
> lower resolutions we get two rows of wallpapers and things look a bit better
> but i think it is clear that there is room for improvement.

There definitely is room for improvement. We should clearly be able to display 
at least two rows of wallpapers on a 7inch screen.

> a quick anatomy of that window, moving vertically:
>
> * a titlebar
> * a text edit
> * content
> * a toggle button
> * control buttons
>
> it would be nice to limit the number of vertical pixels used so that content
> space is maximized. it would also be nice to eliminate redundant and obvious
> text. as such, here is a set of proposals which i will implement if there are
> no objections:
>
> * change title to "Activity Settings" ("settings" being less "tech" than
> "configuration" and shorter, at least in english; use title capitalization)

"Activity Settings" is definitely better than "Activity configuration". However, 
we should generally aim to consistently use predicates in dialog titles instead 
of names. And since I don't no a good verb for "Setting", I'd vote for 
"Configure Activity", even though we'd then still have "Configure" in it. But I 
don't think users have too much of a problem with "Configure". If anyone knows a 
better verb, go for it :)
I'd also go for title capitalization, but then we need to change other dialog 
titles, too. I see, I'll have to write an HIG about that, will do so soon ;)

> * change "Activity name:" to just "Name:". that it is an Activity is implied,
> and is redundant with the title directly above it. the name also appears right
> next to the buttons on the activity view so there is an evident corelation

+1

> * move "Lock as private" next to the Name entry. this eliminates an entire row
> from the vertical space usage and puts all of the controls in one place

+1

> * change "Lock as private" to just "Private". the phrase "Lock as private" is
> a bit awkward (it is not a natural phrasing one would use in conversation) and
> specifying "Lock" speaks to the mechanism rather than the intention of the
> user. the intention is "this is private"; the mechanism we use is "locking
> it".

+1

> one further thing i'd like to experiment with is moving the save/close buttons
> into the title bar. some other mobile OSes do this and it would accomplish two
> things: better use of screen real estate, make it more obvious to people where
> these buttons are. people often do not find the buttons at the bottom; i've
> watched dozens of people go through the UI and this is a recurring issue.

This brings us back to the issue Fania and me raised before: Do we really need 
ok/cancel buttons in all dialogs? We still think we don't. And completely 
eliminating the buttons by instantly applying changes wherever possible and 
closing the dialog with a tap outside is better than moving the unnecessary 
buttons elsewhere.

> on thing that would make this harder is that currently when marking an
> activity as "private" the label on the Save button changes to a very long
> text. i also question if this is really needed or not: mark it as private and
> when "save" is pressed take the necessary steps for a private activity.

Show the password setting dialog as soon as the activity is switched to private. 
That's why it is a switch and not a checkbox (see guideline). The switch changes 
the state of an activity instead of just setting an option.

> p.s. i don't have locking activities working here atm, so i can't see if there
> is any UI for changing the password, or if the password is asked for every
> time a private activity is saved ... in any case, i'm more concerned at the
> moment about the default UI.

Currently there is no way to change the password except for switching private 
off and on again and it does not ask the password every time it is saved.

Our dialog screens are still a weak spot of Plasma Active, and the Activity 
configuration is currently the worst one.
For creating activities, the concept Fania and me will soon present to you will 
offer a wizard, but a wizard does not make much sense for changing the 
properties of an existing Activity, so we still need to optimize that dialog.

Cheers,
Thomas