[maemo-developers] UI concerns --- was [maemo-developers] Qt + KDE port

[From: Kalle Vahlman]

On 7/5/05, Pixelnate <pixelnate at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Jul 5, 2005, at 1:38 PM, Kalle Vahlman wrote:
>
> > On 7/5/05, Timo Steuerwald <timo.steuerwald at gmx.de> wrote:
> >
>
> > I'd rather say they are comfortably big targets to poke at, but I
> > guess that's more a question of preference than a hard number...
>
> On the PalmOS the targets are much smaller and there are few complaints
> about the interface elements being too small. In fact many people
> bought the Sony devices simply because the high resolution of the
> screen reduced the apparent size of the interface elements, ie. fonts,
> buttons, etc.

As I said, I find it comfortable. Someone else probably won't.

> > Hope you have a steady hand too.
>
> I guess if palsy patients are included in the target demographic...

I thought it was targeted for everyone ;)

> > Mostly one can "navigate" with links on the web site (on good sites at
> > least :), but since the fullscreen can be toggled with one click of
> > the fullscreen key, I wouldn't see it as a major issue (when compared
> > to the additional screen estate you get).
>
> But what happens when a user wants to go enter a new URL?

Ok, I'm not too sure about this, but I think the location bar is
visible in fullscreen too.

> Do they have
> to turn on Normal View mode to enter their address with the included
> keyboard or HWR? It can be a major issue. I don't mean to step on toes
> here, but the fewer clicks, taps, etc. the better.

Of course. But if you start comparing inputting an url with a real
keyboard and inputting it with virtual keyboard or HWR, you'll start
to think that this (possibly) one extra keypress is not so big issue
after all ;)

Don't get me wrong, both the vkb and hwr are nifty, but nowhere near
the lightning speeds which seasoned nerds type their urls (and it
takes a little time to learn it too, as always).

> > Websites are unusable for far more annoying reasons than simple
> > resolution optimation. Incompetent web designers are hardly something
> > that can be considered when designing an UI. If a website is broken in
> > 720 pixels, it will be that in 760 or 780 pixels too.
>
> But many web designers have standardized on screen sizes of 800x600
> which leaves about 750-770px of usable space. When the Nokia 770
> displays a webpage at 692px wide, you must still scroll horizontally to
> see all the content on a page. Vertical scrolling is perfectly
> acceptable, horizontal scrolling is not. Since the 770 has the ability
> to display all 750-770px of the window, and you must hit a button to go
> to full screen, you ask the user to do more work that might otherwise
> be avoided.

For certain pages. In certain situations.

I still think it's the web site's problem if it is unusable in low resolutions.

> Has anyone ever had to hit the "full screen" button on their desktop
> monitors to properly view a webpage?

Now you're just being nasty. Try resizing your browser to 780x? and
tell me how many websites behave better than in 720x?

I visited four, of which http://www.nokia.fi and http://www.movial.fi
needed vertical scrolling in both, http://gazpacho.sicem.biz did not
with somewhat larger than 720 (so-called edge case) and slashdot.org
was fine in both.

The ruling (of this all-accounting review):

Most websites would still have to scroll, and most of those that
wouldn't are fine without modifications.

> I realize that there are certain
> limitations in surfing the web on other handhelds, but none have
> included screens of this size. I just feel that the screen can be
> better used in a slightly different configuration than what has been
> shown so far.

It's open source so feel free to tweak the UI so it'll be all nifty
when the devices are available ;)

-- 
Kalle Vahlman, zuh at iki.fi