2010/11/9 Misha Shnurapet <shnurapet@fedoraproject.org>
Hi, Design Team!

I got a little issue with the new filter panel introduced in Transmission 2.11. I desided to ask here because it's part of Fedora and there are people experienced in UI design.

The GUI client used to have nice buttons [1] that allowed to jump quickly between the lists of active / paused / seeding torrents, etc. Now that there are options added, the control has been converted into combo boxes [2].

The issue is pretty simple: I dont' like the extra-click-and-choice it takes to use the combo boxes.

I have posted a ticket [3] to the trac trying to explain my concern. Being disappointed I made myself sound offensive, which I regret and feel very sorry for. However, the developer agreed to see a new solution that wouldn't narrow back the current functionality. Tabs wouldn't work. I'd like to consult with designers if this can be improved any further. Maybe Máirín or Jakub would have an idea?

Hi Misha,

Sorry this response took a while - I meant to reply earlier but the mail got lost.

Here's my opinion on the matter:

It's a hard decision to make. Adding functionality can be good but you also want to keep your software simple. In this case, it's up for the developers/designers of Transmission to decide which one of these provides more value to their users. They should consider their target audience and what they would want: do they value the added power over the expense of increased complexity?

I do think it's very good that you've taken notice of this change though... The difference between one and two mouse clicks will not sound shocking on its own, but these changes can quickly add up. Transmission is known for its simplicity and I personally think that's very valuable. I can only tell them to be careful, but I'm sure the developers know this. :)

By the way, the submenus inside the drop-downs shouldn't be there according to the HIG [1]. On the other hand. the HIG is about guidelines, not rules, and Transmission isn't part of GNOME. Again, it's up to the developers to decide if the tradeoff is worth it.

What I *would* do however is give the default selection in the drop-down list a better label. In your screenshot they both say "All 3", which doesn't make clear what they do. Maybe something like "All torrents", "All states" or "All trackers" would be clearer here? Just an idea.

Jef


[1] http://library.gnome.org/devel/hig-book/stable/controls-option-menus.html.en