Subject: [linux-audio-user] Seeking advice in making my app more "user-friendly"
From: Ivica Bukvic (ico@fuse.net)
Date: Tue Feb 11 2003 - 22:22:11 EET
Hi all,
(Tried getting some help at the LAD list but so far I got no response,
hopefully I can get some input from you guys :-) -- for those who are
subscribed to both lists, my apologies for cross-posting)
I am in the process of revamping my app as well as adding more features.
The problem my app currently has is that the main window is not
resizable, which may potentially cause problems on displays with limited
resolution. I've decided to fix this issue once and for all but am not
sure which path to take. The app in question is RTMix and its current
layout is split into two parts:
Top with timers and buttons
Bottom with the main notification widget and bunch of tabs for editor
and other functionalities.
The app looks something like this:
_________
|buttons|
| timer |
_________
| tabs |
|widgets|
_________
Now I am ready to begin working on a resizable version (which should
mostly not be a problem, other than being time-consuming) and am
wondering whether I should separate the two widgets all together and
have them therefore fully customizable (size-wise). While this option
seems very easy to implement and also attractive, I am concerned with
the issue that the app will easily lose its default looks and may
quickly become overwhelming for the first-time user (since it is
designed to provide performer-computer interface with the least amount
of familiarization required). I would especially appreciate comments
from people who got to use RTMix as to what would they like to see, but
of course I would appreciate anyone else's opinions on this matter as
well.
The other option I've been thinking is to move the two widgets
side-by-side, rather than having one over the other, which would
certainly make maximizing window easier and would utilize the desktop
space more efficiently. However, the issue is also that the app has a
bunch of other deployable floating sub-windows and as such this may not
prove to be the best solution, and would probably look pretty useless
when having a relatively small window.
Finally, I can simply leave the app as it is but then the notification
interface (the bottom part) as well as other tabbed widgets of the
bottom part (such as the script editor) will not be as efficient in
utilizing the desktop space as they could possibly be.
I also thought of having the two widgets designed in such a way that
they can be "glued" together (i.e. xmms-like) or separated as needed,
but I am just afraid that this option may take too much effort since
then I would have to get rid of the default window decorations (in order
to make them "gluable") and make my own custom-designed window handles,
which seems too much of a nuisance to implement.
I am sure someone might have yet another idea regarding this issue that
I am simply unable to think of so I would greatly appreciate your input
on this matter.
The bottom line is that I am looking to make this app as flexible in
terms of desktop space utilization as possible while sacrificing the
minimum amounts of the "standardization" it currently has to offer.
Your help is greatly appreciated! BTW I am using Qt (if that becomes
relevant at some point).
P.S. I have a bunch of screenshots on my site, but the network is
currently screwed up on the University campus so it may end up not being
available for the next 8-24 hrs. Hence, I am unable to give you the
screenshots. However, you may wanna try the URL in my sig -- who knows,
maybe the network will be up by the time this hits your inboxes :-).
Again thanks for your help! Sincerely,
Ivica Ico Bukvic, composer, multimedia sculptor,
programmer, webmaster & computer consultant
http://meowing.ccm.uc.edu/~ico
============================
"To be or not to be" - Shakespeare
"To be is to do" - Socrates
"To do is to be" - Sartre
"Do be do be do" - Sinatra
"2b || ! 2b" - ?
"I am" - God
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b28 : Tue Feb 11 2003 - 22:29:38 EET