[maemo-developers] [maemo-developers] Qt + KDE port

[From: Nathan Turnage]

Personally, the whole screen looks like it is running at too loose a 
resolution. Everything should be scaled down a little bit. The fonts 
are a point or two too large, and IMHO they are a little ugly. Granted 
I am a designer and Mac zealot, so I am a little biased, but there are 
more interesting fonts available for linux.

Font issues aside, I find it wasteful to lose so much screen space on 
navigational elements. Why do all four sides of the screen contain 
navigation? For instance, the application title is up in the left top 
corner, and all of the additional space on the top of the screen is 
wasted. I don't see why the bottom "toolbar" area cannot be contained 
in that space. If the title fonts were smaller, it would be a bit more 
feasible.

Also, there is entirely too much padding around the items in the 
pulldown menus. And that thick border on the pulldowns is unnecessary 
as well. As far as the scroll bars go, there is more room allocated for 
them than is being used. Someone tried to make a point that the area 
was so large because a larger target is easier to hit. INHO, the 
available are for scrollbars should be halved and they should be moved 
as far to the right and bottom as possible.

Overall it just seems like there was little concern for usability and 
design in the UI. Not to fault the Nokia/Maemo/Hildon guys, as most 
GUIs for most open software apps suffer from the same maladies. And 
this is project is still in its early stages. I certainly mean no 
disrespect to the guys and gals working on the project. I just wish I 
knew GTK and C well enough to contribute more than opinion.

There is also no reason why the toolbox on the left side should be so 
large either. IMHO the left hand toolbar should be smaller, and located 
on the bottom of the screen. That would leave enough room for the title 
bar to be wider, to allow for additional tools, status icons, etc., and 
the only thing that would infringe on available screen width would be 
the (minimal) scrollbar. That way you could view web pages designed for 
800px with screens without having to go to full screen mode. On a 
screen that small, there should be less wasted space. Unless there is 
an express need for part of the screen to take up 30 pixels when 15 
would work, then 15 should be used.

That's all for now. I gtg before the boss gives me a case of the 
red-ass.


n+

=======
With choas comes destruction. But, with a powerful, controlling, 
secretive government, we have order. This is the mentality of the GOP 
today.
-Chris Cronin, AmericanDissentRadio.com
=======
On Jul 8, 2005, at 1:58 AM, Mikhail Sobolev wrote:

> On Tue, Jul 05, 2005 at 10:00:18AM -0500, Pixelnate wrote:
>> I disagree. I think there is a lot to be desired in the Maemo GUI.
>> There is way too much wasted space on a screen so small. IMHO, the top
>> and right side are the biggest offenders. If I ever get the
>> Scratchbox/Maemo thing working I want to try and play with some 
>> things.
>> Maybe this weekend.
> Could you please elaborate a bit more?  The only problem you see is 
> "too
> much wasted space" and it does not really fit my definition of "a lot 
> to
> be desired". :))
>
> I checked the thread below, but it still looks like the only problem is
> the wasted space.
>
> Regards
>
> --
> Misha
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