Bugzilla – Bug 5805
Non-obvious icons in new skin
Last modified: 2009-01-23 20:39:24 UTC
I find the 'repeat off' icon confusing. Perhaps a version with a diagonal line across it would be clearer, or just a straight arrow (no circle/loop). Similarly with the shuffle (off) icon. Either a diagonal line across it or just an even list.
The artwork should be replaced, soon. There was quite a bit of exchange between Dean, Scott (the graphics artist) and me on this subject.
I think this is a topic we'd have to discuss with the visual guys. The topic has come up in the forums, too. http://forums.slimdevices.com/showpost.php?p=240919&postcount=55 Brian - do you have an idea about this?
I think there should be a line through it as well. Also the hover text is confusing. Instead of "Shuffle off" it should say something like "Turn shuffle off" so the user knows what happens when they click it since there multiple states. Its just not clear whether the hover text refers to the current state or the next state.
What should be shown in tooltips is a bit of a paradox. Since the icons aren't completely obvious (they're not bad, but...) you're inclined to hover your mouse over them to see what the current state is. If you put the _next_ state into the tooltip, then you lose this ability. I would just as soon click a button, hover, see what it the new tooltip says.
What if we used some more text like "Shuffle: by album - Click to turn shuffle off" etc.?
Ok, we've now implemented the buttons the "industry standard" way (iTunes, WMP): have the buttons glow when they're activated, normal when shuffle/repeat is off. Is this better now?
I rather like the latest visual treatement. But it appears that the tooltips have been removed so that you can no longer tell what the current state is except by the icons. I can't tell what they all mean. I think Shuffle is "Off", then "On (by track)" and "On (by album)". Repeat is less obvious. It's "Off" then "On (with note)" then "On (plain)". Is that "repeat current track" and "repeat playlist", respectively?
They are certainly better but I also agree with Jim's comment above.
The tooltips should now display something like "Repeat - Repeat off" etc. to display the button's function plus state.
(In reply to comment #9) > The tooltips should now display something like "Repeat - Repeat off" etc. to > display the button's function plus state. That good, but isn't the function redundant? Or maybe it is just in English. No big deal. Repeat - Repeat off Repeat - Repeat current song Repeat - Repeat playlist Shuffle - Don't shuffle playlist Shuffle - Shuffle by Song Shuffle - Shuffle by Album
While it is redundant, this is language dependant. And it's the strings we have available. We could of course add new strings for this, but that's a bit over the top imho.
This bug is being closed since it was resolved for a version which is now released! Please download the new version of SqueezeCenter (formerly SlimServer) at http://www.slimdevices.com/su_downloads.html If you are still seeing this bug, please re-open it and we will consider it for a future release.