On Wed, Dec 3, 2008 at 10:33 AM, Andy Owen < [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > (mostly related: IMHO a more important issue is that the volume control > > through the list is not the same as for example Totem's volume control. > > Having to check two places where one application is silenced sounds like > > a bad idea to me.) > > Yes, it is bad, but if there was a standard volume control thing for > each window, then an application like totem doesn't need to implement > its own volume slider (so it would probably want an API that could tell > it if it needs to provide a volume slider or not). > > > > > A unified sound management would be nice but *I* would not search sound > > control in the title bar as it - from my point of view - reflects the > > "window management" (meaning the visual appearance (size..) of the > > window, something "meta" to the actual application). I would expect > > controlling actual "content" of an application is done within the window > > and right now i count sound to this "content". Also one simple aspect of > > having the volume control icon in the title bar that makes it less > > discoverable is that the icon smaller in most cases - as it is in the > > mockup. Of course, once used to it, it is probably easier to find in an > > app new to the user and so worse it. > > I think we have different mental models of a window then. I think of > sounds as something coming from windows (even though I can think of > obvious ways to do things so this isn't the case). And as a result of > this, I see the size of a window as the same type of meta-information as > the volume of the sound that is being produced by that window. > > > > Do you think it should be accessible through the right click menu of the > > window list? > > > > Mockup: > > http://static.ludwigf.org/stuff/gnome-use/volume-bar.png > > That looks good. I do seem to remember there was some effort to try to > reduce the number of items in that menu though, and given that there is > a whole lot of space on the title bar that is generally unused I put it > there (and it made doing my mockup easier). Your point about the icon > being small is valid, but I also think that everyone manages to find the > 'close' button in the window decoration. I'm not sure if the problem with the menus is that they have too many items. I think the real problem is that 99% of all users only use the "Close" menuitem and the other menuitems are just visual clutter. Still, I do like the idea of having it in the titlebar. If you provide a proper icon, I don't think it'll be too confusing. > > > Is sound that important? How many applications do you use that does any > > kind of sound? Asking myself that question I realized: all of them I use > > right now. (assuming it would work for epiphany and all content it can > > embedded) But how often do you change the volume of a single > > application? I'm not sure but it looks to be a non-regular task to me. > > The reason I don't modify the volume of a single application is because > it is a pain at the moment: > > Pulse-audio case: > 0) I need to install the pulse audio volume control > 1) I need to launch the special volume control > 2) I need to pick the right tab in this application, then find the > application I want from a list and adjust the volume > > Application-specific case: (rhythmbox in Ubuntu 8.10 is my example) > 1) Using the scroll wheel over the icon doesn't give visual feedback, > which is even more important because of 2 > 2) Latency is really bad. > > As a result, I tend to just use the system wide volume setting. > > If I could modify the volume for an application by moving my mouse over > the volume icon on the title bar and scrolling the wheel on my mouse, > then I would be very happy. > > > > > A side note: If it would be in the right-click menu should it be > > disabled or hidden if the sound doesn't emit any sounds? As hiding > > changes the length of the list I thought its a bad idea but later on > > noticed the "Move to Workspace Right/Left" actually acts like this. > > But... I never noticed until today. > > I was thinking that it would only appear for applications that make > sounds. Again, I suspect we would need to have some sort of API to say > "I'm an application that will play sound, but I'm not doing so now". So > by default, an application only gets these items if it would appear in > the pulse-audio application list (and if it disappears from that list, > then it loses its volume controls). Once the developers for the specific > application update it, then the application will request volume controls > at startup, and they will persist. This would also be where the > application could do whatever the sane thing to do is when it has > multiple pulse-audio streams, and also find out if it needs to display > its own volume sliders (in case pulse audio isn't running). > > > > > Florian > > > > PSS I found a posting about this on brainstorm.ubuntu.com > > http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/item/15988/ > > _______________________________________________ > Usability mailing list > Usability@gnome.org > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/usability > - Natan
_______________________________________________ Usability mailing list Usability@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/usability
