Gripes with 2.x. - Improving the UI/UX.
asked 2016-09-22 14:09:34 +0200
Some time ago, in one of the meetings, we discussed stuff around the slowness -in terms of interaction- introduced in the UI/UX after the 2.x release. The discussion led to no results thus far but the people at Jolla - @joona-petrell to be exact- asked for suggestions on things that can be improved on the interface. While i don't expect much to change on the OS -because jolla resources, because designers etc etc- below is a list (rant) of things that i still hate with a passion and i firmly believe make SFOS worst than what it can be.
Of course someone can use patches for some of those or write new one that fix the issues but that is not the solution I'd like to see. The idea is to make it better -from my POV at least - for anyone using the SFOS.
1) Duplication of gestures. I'll say this till i die -or until it changes- and if necessary I'll have it engraved in my tombstone. We have gestures that do more than one thing and 2 gestures for the same action. To be exact. 2 gestures to minimize apps and the same gesture to close an app (if you enable the option) and lock the device. If you don't have the option to close the app with a top swipe you don't have a fast way of closing an app. Which personally i find annoying in many cases. The left swipe can be customized to take you to the events page but not for something else.
2) Inconsistencies. Look of apps and accounts settings in the settings menu. They look out of place compared to the other items on the list. The apps settings also should look less than a launcher and more like a list. Also on the accounts settings making the addition of an account a pulley action instead of a button seems more SFOSish.
3) Action slowness. 1.x > swipe from top, 2.x swipe and tap. Two moves = slower interaction. The problem sums up in the previous sentence.I firmly believe that the goal for deciding how something works is "Do the action with minimum amount of moves". Plus in the case of lock it broke a habit that most users have developed by using SFOS 1.x. And this brings us to the next point.
4) Feature promotion vs actual use. (at least seems as feature promotion to me) I understand that ambiances and on the fly customization are one of the selling points of SFOS -leaving outside the fact that is not 100% implemented yet- BUT how often someone changes ambiance? Even if you do it 5 times a times a day is a setting option that can easily be moved to the lock screen pulley menu. It adds clutter to an action that you do far more often in the course of a day. (see above)
5)Long reaches. An area that needs a bit more thought now that phones have become bigger and human hands are not evolving fast enough. Swipes are awesome of course but there are areas like the launchers and folders that make it difficult to reach stuff even for people with normal-large hands. Another example are notifications and remorse timers. They appear on the very top also making it difficult to reach.
6) Elements changing while you interact. Closing multiple apps on home screen. They move around as you hit the close button and make the whole experience a bit frustrating. Rearranging them after you finished closing them i think would be better.
7) The whole lock screen/event screen pulley menu situation. Thing are all over the place. Not every option can be added to each menu. (ie can't have torch on the lockscreen). Plus having to move to the even screen to access that menu feels slow compared to having it on the home screen.
8) Differentiate the lock screen. Self explanatory i think. Lock screens use the same background and the differentiation of date/time/provider is not significant enough. Even the arrows that tell you to swipe to unlock aren't present all the time to make someone understand what to do. In some cases -like when plugging headphones- the arrows don't even appear.
9) Utilities. The whole menu is a wall of text with buttons on it. Needs better design.
Hope the above is read by the designers and other Jolla people in charge of UI, things mentioned taken into account and fixed sooner rather later. Feel free to debate or add other stuff you get annoyed by.
Good text. Regarding 1) I think closing an app by swipe down and "closing"/locking the device via the same gesture while being on the home screen is okay, since the functionality is similar. I fully agree on 3), 4), 5) and 7). I personally am not really bothered by the other points.
till ( 2016-09-22 15:56:11 +0200 )edit@till, that's exactly what I thought when I read item 1. How can someone consider closing something in one screen (say, an application) and another screen (say, home) different actions is beyond me. In both cases you close whatever is on the screen.
I do find the need for the extra tap strange and inconsistent, I give you that.
Regarding other points, I did not read them, sorry. You may have a point but it was just way too much text.
pichlo ( 2016-09-22 20:09:45 +0200 )editMy thinking behind arguing against the top swipe doing two things comes from this: One is that actions based on context need the user -or at least me- to pay more attention compared to an action that does the same thing all the time and two that closing an app is a long reach. Of course someone will say that locking the phone is also a long reach. True but its usually the last thing you do before putting it away meaning you can hold it a bit differently (test how you hold your phone while you put it in your pocket or leaving it on a desk next to you compared to when doing something) and make swiping easier (assuming the dreaded tap currently needed is gone).
ApB ( 2016-09-22 21:41:43 +0200 )editI hold my phone quite a bit further up, to be able to guide it into my pocket better (I put it with speaker down), which means I reach the top of the screen quite comfortably to be able to lock it. Besides the comfort of being able to lock the screen without looking, I think you're onto something with the consistency argument - where closing an app and closing the screen should be the same gesture. Why can't ambiances be a pulley on the home screen, now that we can't go to the lock screen from the home screen? In SfOS 1 I regularly switch sounds on/off using the lock screen pulley. Having a special pulley for ambiances in the home screen would behave similar, with using ambiances instead of a simple switch.
Mohjive ( 2016-09-22 22:50:02 +0200 )editPoint 6 is also especially true for remorse timer actions. Want to remove 2 or 3 images from Gallery, so multiple selection isn't worth it? Good luck!
Tofe ( 2016-09-23 10:22:00 +0200 )edit