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>From try 3: (OK, this is getting ridiculous. I'm assuming that the fire
list server is trashing my stuff because there's an attachment, so here it
is without the attachment.)
>From try 2: (At the risk of defying fate when the first one met an ill end,
here's a resend of what I sent yesterday. Let's hope it's not an omen. =))
And try 1:
Good evening, everybody.
The Fire interface has undergone a lot of changes recently in the chat
windows, most notably in the migration to the toolbar approach. However, my
proposal is a somewhat more radical change to the interface, in particular
as a substitute for the buddy list. As it stands now, the buddy list is a
great waste of screen space, and there's some interface problems with it as
well:
* How often do you need to reorganize your buddy lists? The tabs at the top
are taking up space all the time. (This is true of most clients, not just
Fire)
* What's the "Online" bar for in the window, from the user's point of view?
(I know why it's there programmatically =))
* (Window width) Each name is of different length, which means that you
either cut off the long names or waste space to the side of the shorter
names. (Also not just Fire)
* (Window height) The number of people online at any given time varies, so
unless you resize your window every time somebody logs in or out, you're
probably wasting space (or can't see all your buddies). The more buddies
you have altogether, the more widely it varies. (Not just Fire.)
* Anybody else find Cmd-Shft-I somewhat excessive?
Additionally, there are things about IM that are not being exploited well:
* Most people have a relatively small "working set" of people to whom they
actually want to talk. One can help manage this and pare it down through
groups and collapsing unused ones, but surely there is a more elegant
solution... (Not just Fire.)
* What's the most frequent action performed on buddies, by far? Sending a
message. Why do we have to double-click to do that?
* Second most frequent? Getting information. As mentioned above, this
could be much easier.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Fire BuddyBar(tm).
The BuddyBar sits at the bottom of your screen, and is about as tall as the
menubar, if not a bit shorter. It can be floating on top of all
applications if you prefer, act as a normal window, or even sit behind
everything.
On the left side, you have the buddy area. This contains the list of
buddies in your working set (as specified in their user information) that
are online. Clicking on the buddy opens an IM to them (or shows the window
already open). Each buddy has a little icon next to them that shows their
service and status (along with name dimming as usual, etc.). Clicking on
the service/status icon brings up their info window (profile, etc.).
Contextual menus provide the usual functions one would expect. The final
item in the buddy area is a small indicator showing how many other buddies
are online, and clicking on it brings up the normal buddy list for times
when you need somebody outside of your working set.
The buddy area of the bar grows as large as the other items permit, and all
other items would be able to be added and removed by the user. Directly to
the right of the buddy area, indicators similar to the current dock icon
ones would (optionally) be present, indicating the status of each service.
Clicking on them allows you to connect/disconnect/etc. from the service. To
the right of that, your current status would (optionally) be displayed
(Available/etc.) and could likewise be changed.
Pros:
* Screen real estate of buddy list reduced to essentially zero in normal
case, without loss of features commonly used
* All common actions take 1 click
* Service status information more visible (on a cleaner background than the
dock icon), control easier
* Less duplicates between the same buddy on different services--just put the
"preferred" one in the bar.
Cons (with brief discussion):
* Requires dock on left or right, won't work with dock on bottom. This is
the biggest problem, as it appears that most people have left the dock on
the bottom. One could put it at the top under the menu bar, but that is a
significantly poorer solution from a mouse-targeting perspective, not to
mention possible interference with the menu bar. However, it would retain
the other benefits. Any comments or suggestions on this are highly
requested.
* Pointless if there are too many buddies in your working set online at the
same time. However, the survey justified my intuition that this would not
be a problem for most people if running at 1024x768 or higher. Roughly 15
or so buddies with normal-sized names can fit on 1024 with both optional
areas turned on. As this is about as many as most people have as their
*total* working set, the number online should easily fit.
* Issue with apps placing windows with resize controls behind the bar? Only
applies to when floating, but maybe we can tell the system to not autosize
windows there, like the dock does (for the apps which listen). Can always
hide Fire momentarily if it is an issue for a second.
* I have to implement it!
The BuddyBar wouldn't replace the buddy list, but simply serve as an
additional feature working in conjunction with it. The BuddyBar follows the
eternal CS maxim of optimizing the common case--for most people in most
cases, it would function much better than the current way of doing things,
and there would be a graceful fallback to the buddy list for the cases it
can't handle.
So. That's my harebrained idea. You can see a mockup (of dubious quality)
of what it might look like when implemented attached to this email
(revision: it's now at http://homepage.mac.com/decimus/mockup.jpg). I just
realized I forgot to put the indicator for "everybody else" in the mockup,
but hey. You get the idea.
If this sounds like something that many people would like, then I'll start
working on it, and a while down the line we'll have a great new feature that
puts Fire above everything else in another way. If not, well, then we can
all just keep using the buddy list all the time. I have a TiBook, I guess I
can spare a couple inches on the side. =)
I heartily encourage comments and suggestions, either back to the list or to
me personally, and if it is going to become a reality it'll be good to make
sure we know all the issues and questions up-front. So drop me a line, and
we'll see what we can do.
Best regards,
br
--
Ben Rister
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
The last good thing written in C was Franz Schubert's Ninth Symphony.
-- Christa Ptatschek
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