http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/2367 - 2.1.0 GUI

[Sean Egan]

On 8/1/07, Andrew Roeder <correnthean at hotmail.com> wrote:
> I will define, that the average user does not participate in the mailing
> list, read your blog, or even know about either of them.  The most users who
> do are ones with the suggestions or complaints, generally the latter.

I realize that most Pidgin users don't follow Pidgin development. I
don't see any way to ask them what they think of something other than
forcing it on them and measuring feedback.

Now that we have a rapid release cycle again, we can do this in faster
iterations.

> A problem with much UI design specific problems is that older users are not
> voicing their opinions, as they are content with what is there, while the
> users who feel they need something changed are all but screaming their heads
> off.

A larger problem is that people tend to be adverse to change. If
you've gotten used to Gaim's conversation window over the past 8
years, change – even for the better – comes as a shock and is not met
well.

That said, while there was a certainly a much larger uproar about the
protocol icon change than there were people begging us to remove
protocol icons from the buddy list to begin with, there is still much
more actual, legitimate complaints about the old UI than there are
about the new one.

> Ticket #2146 I really dislike.
> it is adding more clutter to an already
> cramped buddy list, while there is no direct relation between the protocol
> of a user and their online status, it was a compact way of displaying the
> information without expanding the buddy list columns or cluttering it up.

I won't long consider any approach that overlays icons again, as
*that* really clutters the interface into an inconsistent jumble of
color and shape. It was not my idea to separate them, but an idea
independently proposed by several actual UI experts.

> I really don't wish to rehash the topic of these....

<snip> ;)

> >Font ⌄ | Smiley | Link | Image
> Seems right to me, very small space usage(especially if only icons are
> used.) and is the "one click" solution.

That sounds reasonable. Hylke, what do you think?

> Main bug with this was the copy/paste of text not resetting afterwards
> correct?  Really I think it will always be a necessary item as long as you
> are able to change anything about your text, but definately it does not
> deserve the largest button on the toolbar:P

Right, and that seems to mostly have been fixed.

-s.