Posted by member 7991 on 2004-08-16 19:02:13 link
Cerbie: A system shell is intended to be functional, not artistic. Just like fridge doors, toilet seats, and microwaves ovens are intended to be functional, or stereos, cd players, cars, jet engines, etc. Yes, through design you can create a beautiful piece of work, but function should really be the priority. What do you think the original developers of Litstep had in mind? I don't think they're biggest gripe with the Explorer shell was its lack of glitz and emotional impact.
I see a lot of themes inspired by such things as anime, video games, etc, with no improvement in useability when compared to Explorer. Entire themes designed to match a preexisting wallpaper. It all seems very strange and backwards from my perspective; see 'the wagon before the horse'.
And that is fine. I just like any interface I use, from my toilet to my midi sequencer to be as intuitive and poweful as possible. My toilet is quite powerful.
Universal TV remotes are another example of where style tends to have priority over ease of use. But then again, this is a very old discussion, and every one mos def SHOULD have their own opinion.
Oh, and about the small buttons in the corner: anything small is hard to notice. When you first begin using a theme, if a feature is hidden (ie: incredibly small) it is unlikely the enduser will even notice it is there, nor is it likely that they will realize that it does have a function. If it is small, at least make it bright. Humans have very poor spatial acuity in they're peripheral field, so small buttons will go unnoticed more often, being used less. Humans rely primarily on they're vision initially when learning a new task. Through practice they begin to rely less on vision, and (in this example) begin to rely more heavily on motor memory. The more obvious such a button is, the more the user will remember to use that feature. The more they are reminded that feature is there, the more likely they are to practice using it. Once they become acustomed to flicking their wrist to the corner of the screen for these tasks, THEN the size/contrast of the button does not really matter.
Wow, long post... sorry guys! lol Anyway, they point is, before you begin designing your theme, decide who the intended audience is. If you alone are going to be using it, then by all means do what you want. But if you want to make a 'revolutionary', or well respected theme, 4x4 pixel buttons in each of the corners aren't going to get you anywhere. Nor is an *INSERT CONSOLE GAME HERE*-inspired bar theme. It all depends on your audience. The best themes are the ones that a lot of people find useful... in my eyes they are the ones that can cater to everyone. Hooray pop culture.
I see a lot of themes inspired by such things as anime, video games, etc, with no improvement in useability when compared to Explorer. Entire themes designed to match a preexisting wallpaper. It all seems very strange and backwards from my perspective; see 'the wagon before the horse'.
And that is fine. I just like any interface I use, from my toilet to my midi sequencer to be as intuitive and poweful as possible. My toilet is quite powerful.
Universal TV remotes are another example of where style tends to have priority over ease of use. But then again, this is a very old discussion, and every one mos def SHOULD have their own opinion.
Oh, and about the small buttons in the corner: anything small is hard to notice. When you first begin using a theme, if a feature is hidden (ie: incredibly small) it is unlikely the enduser will even notice it is there, nor is it likely that they will realize that it does have a function. If it is small, at least make it bright. Humans have very poor spatial acuity in they're peripheral field, so small buttons will go unnoticed more often, being used less. Humans rely primarily on they're vision initially when learning a new task. Through practice they begin to rely less on vision, and (in this example) begin to rely more heavily on motor memory. The more obvious such a button is, the more the user will remember to use that feature. The more they are reminded that feature is there, the more likely they are to practice using it. Once they become acustomed to flicking their wrist to the corner of the screen for these tasks, THEN the size/contrast of the button does not really matter.
Wow, long post... sorry guys! lol Anyway, they point is, before you begin designing your theme, decide who the intended audience is. If you alone are going to be using it, then by all means do what you want. But if you want to make a 'revolutionary', or well respected theme, 4x4 pixel buttons in each of the corners aren't going to get you anywhere. Nor is an *INSERT CONSOLE GAME HERE*-inspired bar theme. It all depends on your audience. The best themes are the ones that a lot of people find useful... in my eyes they are the ones that can cater to everyone. Hooray pop culture.