mockup for user information interface

[Máirín Duffy]

Mark wrote:
> *** this is the real rply. the other one was a mistake :P i pressed 
> enter instead of shift..

I addressed the other comments in my other reply so I will not repeat 
them here.

[snip]

> none in that case.. just info that belongs together in a window together 
> and not seperated. "About Me" and "Login Photo" should be in the same 
> window.. since the login photo is a "personal" setting and personal 
> settings have a nice place in the About me window

If it is not an improvement....?
> 
>     This isn't standard form behavior (it's important to try to be
>     consistent across applications on the desktop so users get used to the
>     conventions) and as previously mentioned will likely cause accessibility
>     problems.
> 
> 
> i don`t see how that could be a accessibility problem..

It is a very big accessibility problem. If someone cannot access the 
form field to fill it out, they can't fill it out, and thus they can't 
use the application.

>     If the text appears light grey by default, don't you think that would
>     send a visual cue (by convention) to users that the text is immutable
>     (when it is mutable) ?
> 
> 
> nope. if you can`t edit text the complete textfield should be "lighter". 
> i don`t see a problem with this.

There's only so light you go before the text becomes unreadable. The 
standard convention is that immutable text is light grey, so if you 
color your text light grey people are going to assume its immutable. 
Really. Print out your mockup and show it to 7 people, and ask them how 
they would use that dialog. I bet at least 2 or 3 of them will wonder if 
they can actually edit the text.

Web UI patterns do not always translate to desktop app models and 
vice-versa.

>     I recommend the Gimp and Inkscape. If you design for Fedora you should
>     use Fedora to do it, no? :) If you need help setting these up or using
>     them feel free to ask here!
> 
> 
> hehe i don`t agree on that.

Surely there's a reason you're trying to migrate to Fedora? Why is 
photoshop an exception to that?

>     Hope this feedback helps. Even though I do not agree with the changes
>     you have made in this mockup, it is clear that you are quite good at
>     working with graphics tools so I hope you will stick around and are
>     willing to learn more about interface design!
> 
> 
> insulting me on my graphics design isn`t nice :P btw.. 

Hey now Mark, I was not insulting your graphics design skills at all! I 
was complimenting them. What I was suggesting you might look to do is 
work on understanding some interface design principles. It is one thing 
to mock up a pretty interface (which you are clearly capable of), but it 
is quite a bit more complicated to mock up a pretty interface that is 
also usable and fits within the established conventions, right? 
Remember, you actively sought feedback here, and I am just trying to 
provide you with feedback to help you improve. I am not trying to insult 
you at all. I hope you can understand?

> the thing with 
> the red borders is a comment box.. that`s NOT part of the mockup..

I understood that quite clearly and did not assume it was part of the 
mockup nor did I even mention it in my comments.

> just 
> to explain some little stuff that otherwise would be hard to figure out.

That is what I tried to do by explaining about how the form fields you 
mocked up will not be accessibility-compliant and suggesting that you 
take a look at the GNOME HIG.

> and i don`t see anything wrong with the rest of my mockup.. i could add 
> some nifty things but that would be harder to code.
> and i would be glad to learn more things with graphics.

I think you are already quite skilled with graphics. What you need to 
learn more about is interface design.
> 
> also let me point out that i made this stuff because i simply can`t 
> understand that there are 2 different user images for users while you 
> hardly see any of those anywhere.. i never encounted them on my default 
> FC7 installations.

That is a perfectly reasonable complaint; I have not used the Fedora 
Live CD, only Fedora 6 so I never experienced that 2 dialog issue but I 
agree that it is a problem.

> also the best thing i could think of with this stuff is a so called 
> "Edit in place" for the form.

What is the advantage of the edit in place over the current label + form 
field model?

> thanx for the feedback so far

Yep, I hope you haven't been too turned off and can take this as a 
learning experience?

~m