Bad design of new user interface

dzine · Post by **dzine** » Sat Dec 26, 2015 6:31 am

Bad design of new user interface December 2015 release

The whole point of writing new code is to make things better not worse.

Two steps forward one step back is not a pleasant experience for any 'end user'

The end objective is to reduce the amount of brain re wiring end users have to undertake NOT increase it !

One writes computer code in order to reduce brain code

I have no idea why programmers seem to ignore 'common sense' at almost every opportunity !

JUST STOP FOR 5 Minutes and figure out what end result is required !, thats all it takes !!!

I guarantee that will be the most fruitfull 5 minutes of any coders career !

STOP : THINK : DESIGN

Old interface

You could see how long the game was running for... important information GONE

You could see what map was being played...... important information GONE

Yet again we have common sense flying out the window !

INFORMATION WAITING PLAYERS WOULD LIKE TO SEE

Room/server name

Map selected , idealy with a picture next to it ( this WAS a realy great feature )

Number of players and spectators waiting in that room

How long the players have been waiting OR playing in that room

Idealy the names of the players and spectators in that room (CODE HINT mouse over and the mini map display area to show players names)

All at a glance without 'click click click'

This took me all of 2 mins to figure out ....go suck a lemon !

dzine · Post by **dzine** » Sat Dec 26, 2015 6:56 am

Life is for learning

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_experience_design

xan2622 · Post by **xan2622** » Sat Dec 26, 2015 7:42 am

Hello dzine.

dzine wrote: ↑Room/server name

It's still there, on the left.

dzine wrote: ↑Map selected , idealy with a picture next to it ( this WAS a realy great feature )

The map thumbnail/preview is still there, on the right.

dzine wrote: ↑Number of players and spectators waiting in that room

It's still there. Spectators no, but players who joined, yes.

dzine wrote: ↑How long the players have been waiting OR playing in that room

That's true, it seems that information is gone. But I guess, developers had no other choice than removing it because there was no more free space to display it.
EDIT : it's on the right, below the map preview.

dzine wrote: ↑Idealy the names of the players and spectators in that room (CODE HINT : mouse over and the mini map display area to show players names)

It might be interesting. I don't know what developers think about this idea but I like it.

Here is a mockup image with a bigger UI (click for full view).

penev · Post by **penev** » Sun Dec 27, 2015 11:27 am

First off, you didn't even say what UI you are talking about.
Please try some "STOP : THINK : WRITE".

Second, as xanax` said, all that information is still there (including the spectators, actually).
As for the hover tooltip with player info - you should be aware by now that there could be 60 people on a server at the same time. Good luck reading that tooltip.

I didn't say anything on the first few (new) threads I read today, but the attitude is unnecessary. None of this is constructive feedback; it's all just random ranting without even giving suggestions on how to make things better.

PersianImmortal · Post by **PersianImmortal** » Sun Dec 27, 2015 11:09 pm

I love this guy
Please keep posting Dzine

r34ch · Post by **r34ch** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 5:47 am

When life gives you lemons.

AoAGeneral1 · Post by **AoAGeneral1** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 6:56 pm

Stop/Write/Think

Indeed.

Otherwise this code might come up: http://dzine.just.got.owned.aninote.com/

Post by **Sleipnir** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 9:32 pm

The new multiplayer lobby layout was driven by UI design. Players who are looking for a server need to know four things, and these are listed in the main table: the server name, how many people are in it (including spectators), where it is, and its current state.

The amount of time that an in-progress game has been in progress is not very useful to somebody looking for a server (because they can't join these games), and neither is the current map (because maps can and usually do change several times before a game is started). These are therefore pushed to the secondary UI in order to make room to triple the number of servers that can be displayed in the list.

Acting like an ass towards the people playing and developing the game is a bad design for your suggestions. I suspect that you would have received a much more positive response if you had been civil from the start.

dzine · Post by **dzine** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 6:08 am

Lobby Design Rather than rip obvious flaws i thinks its far wiser to have an open debate specifically on 'Lobby design'

http://www.sleipnirstuff.com/forum/view ... 82&t=19302

I am deeply concerned that a huge amount of code time is gonna get lost on lobby design

Its sooo easy to get wrong......so hard to put right.....so easy to end up in a place where no one is happy. I think it would be very wise to 'sketch out' a semifunctional User AI and playaround with it for many months THEN share it with the userbase BEFORE even commiting it to code

A bad lobby design CAN & WILL DESTROY ALL GOOD WORK THAT HAS GONE BEFORE

With lobby design you have to 'sketch the final polished product out first'
Endless development hell + lobby design = doomed from the start.

Post by **Sleipnir** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 7:06 pm

I think it would be very wise to 'sketch out' a semifunctional User AI and playaround with it for many months THEN share it with the userbase BEFORE even commiting it to code

Your rude tone is extremely unflattering when it's clear that you don't even follow our development.

We did the sketches and discussed and iterated the design before writing any code. We put it through two months of public testing. We shared it with our userbase DURING its development, and iterated the design based on their feedback. So far all of the feedback we have received on the release design outside of your forum threads has been positive.

Please stop spamming my forum with your unhelpful and abusive posts. You have convinced most of our regular contributors that you are a troll, and this is the last time that I am giving you the benefit of the doubt. If I have to delete any more threads that you have turned into an argument then I will apply a posting restriction to your account.

PersianImmortal · Post by **PersianImmortal** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 1:50 am

Started should probably be checked by default so new players don't think this game is dead and can see that they just need to wait a few minutes for a game to finish before they hop in.

Post by **Sleipnir** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 10:52 am

Sounds reasonable.

the-zoidberger · Post by **the-zoidberger** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 5:03 pm

Hey Guys - The new release looks great and the latest balance changes really make the game even more enjoyable. If you're ever looking for assistance with user interface design or just want to shave some hours off your next release, I'd be happy to lend a hand as a volunteer. I've got 10 years or so under my belt and would love to help down the line.

#tact is a thing

Phrohdoh · Post by **Phrohdoh** » Sun Jan 03, 2016 11:27 pm

the-zoidberger please feel free to join us on the #openra channel of the freenode IRC network anytime!

OpenRA

Bad design of new user interface

Bad design of new user interface

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