[libreoffice-design] Re: [GSoC] Refreshed Android Impress Remote

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mirek M. <mazelm@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Jul 31, 2013 at 2:46 AM
Subject: Re: [Libreoffice-ux-advise] [GSoC] Refreshed Android Impress Remote
To: Artur Dryomov <artur.dryomov@gmail.com>

Hi Artur,

On Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 10:40 PM, Artur Dryomov <artur.dryomov@gmail.com>wrote:

> First of all — what are your impressions after using the new version? Of
> course it is buggy ;-) Your huge list made me pessimistic a bit so it would
> be great to know how bad things are.

Sorry I made you pessimistic. I wanted to be thorough.

Actually, things are not bad at all. I would say you understand the
importance of design and you can design really well.

The bugs are mostly niggles, though, so don't let the volume frighten you.

> 1) When the app can't find any connections, it just shows a loading
> wheel. The user can't be sure whether the app is stuck or just searching
> for connections.
>
> It is what Android apps do when content is loading and it is a default
> behavior. Even more — no signs should be used [1].

What I meant was more like something along the lines of showing:
"No devices found.
Searching again in 5 [4, 3, 2, 1] seconds."

This just to indicate that no devices were found, rather than that the
application is stuck.

If the search is nearly instantaneous, an activity circle probably
shouldn't be shown at all. (And, when at least 1 computer has been found,
it isn't, which makes me think maybe it isn't necessary.)

> > 2) It might be helpful to tell the user how to connect, especially with
> the wifi connection.
>
> I thought about adding help page with all information and make its call an
> action bar item at the home screen. I am not a big fan of adding welcome
> screens but help seems to be reasonable.

Sounds good.

I was also thinking that, if you do get rid of the activity circle, perhaps
you could show the steps laid own in light gray on the connection screens
instead (only when no device has been found, of course, and the "No devices
found" label should probably be more prominent).

> 3) What does the "Add Computer" button actually do? Is it for manually
> adding a computer when the automatic detection fails? Is it wifi-only? (If
> so, it should only appear on the WiFi tab.) This should be made clearer.
>
> It was declared it in my proposal ;-) I even added a sign at adding screen
> with text “WiFi connection” but it looked messy. OK, this button will be
> shown only for WiFi tab.

Thanks. :)

> > 4) Rotating the device when on the code screen shouldn't cause a loading
> wheel to appear.
>
> Do you mean short appearance or the wheel shows for a long time? If you
> caught a second scenario it is really bad and unexpected :-?

Well, the activity circle shouldn't show at all if all that's happening is
layout adjustment for portrait/landscape mode. It doesn't take that long,
but it can be annoying if you accidentally turn your device and then turn
it back again. I had no luck in switching orientations inside a slide show,
so I have no idea what that's like and how much the wheel blocks the
content.

> 5) The animation between the slide view and the overview takes too long.
>
> Maybe it is better to remove it completely?

Perhaps.

If you wanted to go all out, I would say the ideal animation would be a
zoom out, where the slide zooms out into its place in the overview. And the
reverse when going from slide overview to slide view.
Kind of like the iOS 7 app launch animation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlL9l44eUsk.

> > 6) When accidentally exiting, reconnecting should be immediate.
>
> Can you give more detailed explanation of the scenario?

Say I accidentally hit the "Up" or "Back" button while presenting. To get
back to my presentation, I choose my computer. The presentation should load
immediately and from where I left off.

> > 7) I couldn't figure out how to set the timer.
>
> Well, if you are using tablet there should be an icon at the action bar
> with a clock on it. Or — if there is no room — it becomes hidden at the
> overflow menu (vertical dots). Choose a menu, set time and press “Start”.
> That’s it.

It's present in the newer version. I'll comment on it later. :)

> > 8) Choosing a slide from the overview should automatically enter the
> Slide view at that slide.
>
> I don’t think it fits for all users. Maybe someone wants to switch slides
> this way or show a slide from the beginning and then some slide for the end
> :-?

Isn't that what custom slide shows are for, though? I can imagine a person
skipping some slides when there's not enough time left, but it's hard to
imagine that a person would randomly just go through slides.
My argument for automatically entering Slide view boils down to this: The
user won't constantly switch from one slide to another. They'll spend some
time on each slide. When on a slide, showing the content of the slide
(which tends to be unreadable at the Slide overview size), possibly along
with speaker notes, is much more valuable than just showing a grid of
slides.

That said, I understand the need to enter the overview quickly in such
occasions. What do you think about using the Pinch close [1] gesture to
enter the overview?

> > 9) If the presentation is not in Slide Show mode on the computer, the
> device should say so. In this case, it shouldn't show the Overview button
> and the action bar should read the name of the computer on which
> LibreOffice runs.
>
> The previous version did that on a separate screen. I’m not sure about
> your opinion actually. The client requires pairing, pairing requires
> setting PIN on the computer and this operation requires user to enter the
> pin on the computer. I mean — if user connects to computer he is already
> nearby it and probably wants to start a slide show. Am I wrong?

I see that the newer build automatically launches a slide show -- that's
good.

> 10) The slide size in the overview should be maximized.
>
> Can you attach a screenshot and mark a desirable size on it? It looks just
> fit on a phone :-?

Try a presentation with one or two slides.
I realize this is an extreme use case, probably not something to worry
about, but it could be nice with e.g. a short 6-slide presentation on a
tablet. (Rather than seeing lots of empty rows, you'd see bigger previews.)

> > 11) Slides should occupy as much of the screen as possible. The shadow
> should surround to slide.
>
> Slides already occupy everything is possible — minus notes of course —
> keeping aspect ratio.

Works in the newer build.
However, the previews don't have good quality. They seem like (and I expect
they are) stretched-out bitmaps. Probably not noticeable on phones, but not
so great on larger screens.

> The shadow is a complicated thing. I didn’t expect that its implementation
> would be hard but I spent two days on that and failed. Basically the slide
> show previews are shown in a ViewPager widget. Its size is dynamic. Inner
> views — previews — fit the parent layout. So I cannot draw a border because
> it will be expanded to the ViewPager and it looks not like it should be. I
> can try again but I spent a lot of time on different solutions with no luck.

That's okay -- a shadow isn't necessary.

> > 12) Tapping a slide should make the slide bounce a bit to the left and
> reveal a sliver of the next slide, to indicate that one should slide to
> move to the next slide, not tap.
>
> I’ll think about it.

This is just a detail, isn't necessary.

> > 13) If the slide advances on screen (not by using the remote, e.g. by
> mouse click or right/left arrows), it should advance on the remote as well.
>
> Done.

Doesn't seem to be in the daily build, but I'll take your word for it. :)

> > 14) Please highlight the current slide in the slide overview.
>
> Will be done, I’m just looking for a solution. Such things are
> surprisingly complicated on Android :-?

Great, thanks.

> > 15) I wonder if the "spread out from center" animation when entering a
> subscreen is avoidable. A slide-in animation from the right would be
> preferable, given that the up button points left, indicating that the
> parent is on the left.
>
> If you mean animations between screens — it is just system animation.
> Actually animation you mean was at Android 2.1 and was removed at 2.3. I
> don’t know why — it was really great.

I'm on Android 4.1 -- do you mean 4.1 instead of 2.1?
I meaning the one you get when e.g. you tap on a computer name and it takes
you to the presentation. Or when you hit the Up button when inside a
presentation.


> > 16) Some of the wording could be shorter. [1] "Name is optional" is
> preferable to "Name is optional -- IP address would be used instead if you
> wish." and the label should appear left-aligned right below the Name field,
> to show that it's related.
>
> What do you think if I’ll replace a hint message “Name” with “Name
> (optional)” or “Name — optional”?

"Name (optional)" sounds good.

> > Try "Type in a valid IP address." instead of "You should type a valid IP
> address."
 Will be done.
>

Great. :)

> > Is the ability to use the volume buttons to advance slides gone? I can't
> find it anywhere... The same for blank screens.
> > I couldn't get Notes to appear. Also, rotating the device in
> presentation mode does nothing/causes a crash. And Bluetooth didn't work
> for me.
> > So all of these things I couldn't test.
>
> Yep, volume keys support as well as blank screen is not implemented yet.

Ok.

> It is strange that you didn’t get notes. Can you send me a slide show you
> tested on?

I get them in the new build.
The font size seems a bit small for them, though... Perhaps you could make
it a size or two bigger?

> Crashes are normal, it is something like alpha version ;-)
>
> Is there Bluetooth support on your tablet? Or there was just an infinite
> wheel while searching?

Infinite wheel, though seems to be fixed for me in the newer build.

> Waiting for your reply!
>
> Thanks again,
> Artur.


[1] http://developer.android.com/design/patterns/gestures.html

-- 
To unsubscribe e-mail to: design+unsubscribe@global.libreoffice.org
Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/
Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette
List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/design/
All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted