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Usage scenarios

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gpvillamil:
A lot of the issues I see people have with the MC11 (and MC12) UI have to do with usage scenarios. Perhaps by acknowledging these scenarios the UI can be much better tuned.

The scenarios I've come up with are the following:

1. Leaning forward - the user is at the computer, sitting close to the screen, focused on computing tasks with a capable keyboard and mouse available. Sub scenarios:
a. MC11 as a background task - ie the user is working, surfing, etc and MC11 is playing music in the background
b. MC11 as a foreground task - ie the user is actively tagging music, organizing, making CDs, playlists etc.

2. Sitting back - the user is not at the computer, or not focused on computing tasks. This is the real "media center" scenario, where you are using the computer as a replacement for stereo or DVD player. [Edit] The input devices available may be limited in capability, eg. remote control, simplified wireless keyboard, trackball.

3. Mixed (the DJ scenario) - one user is "leaning forward" mode, queuing up music, images and video, other users are "sitting back", watching the output on another screen.

I get the sense that a lot of MC development is focused on scenario 1.b. - lots of information, small fonts, the need for precise mouse movements and typing.

The Theater View was supposed to address scenario 2 but it is missing too many capabilities (eg. search). Scenario 2 needs larger fonts, less info on screen (but not necessarily a reduction of capabilities). Ideally I would like a simplified version of the main interface, not an entirely different interface. I end up trying to use an interface designed for 1.b.  in scenario 2, which is why I keep complaining about the need for fiddly drag & drop, deeply nested menus and small fonts. Consider what it means to be using MC on a large screen TV 15 feet away, using a wireless keyboard with a trackball - and this is also the system where most music organization and playlist creation is done. For me, scenarios 1.b and 2 almost always take place on a dedicated media center PC.

Scenario 3 seems to have emerged by accident, but quite a few users like it. In fact, it is a unique capability of MC - no other media player seems to do this as well as MC11. It is a real differentiator, don't make it go away. In fact, since my system is rather drastically multi-monitor, for me the scenario 3 case is identical to scenario 1.a. For me, scenario 1.a and scenario 3 are almost always on a laptop with a large screen, and 1 or more additional external monitors.

So my suggestion would be to see how you can optimize the MC12 UI for each of the above scenarios, without compromising each too much. I strongly believe these can all be addressed within the same basic framework, with just a few changeable parameters.

datdude:
Bingo!

I am in scanario 2 most of the time now.

Doof:

--- Quote from: gpvillamil on June 27, 2006, 07:53:27 pm ---The Theater View was supposed to address scenario 2 but it is missing too many capabilities (eg. search). Scenario 2 needs larger fonts, less info on screen (but not necessarily a reduction of capabilities). Ideally I would like a simplified version of the main interface, not an entirely different interface. I end up trying to use an interface designed for 1.b.  in scenario 2, which is why I keep complaining about the need for fiddly drag & drop, deeply nested menus and small fonts. Consider what it means to be using MC on a large screen TV 15 feet away, using a wireless keyboard with a trackball - and this is also the system where most music organization and playlist creation is done. For me, scenarios 1.b and 2 almost always take place on a dedicated media center PC.

--- End quote ---

See, I kind of disagree with this. I really don't see how or why anybody would want to be doing all of their media management with a remote. It's just not going to be as good an interface for that kind of work as the main interface is. The remote-based interface needs to be simple to navigate and easy to play the media I want. I'm not going to spend any time at all tagging media with the remote, or trying to rip or burn CDs.  The main interface is great for the various jobs I need to do. Theater View is great (could be better) for letting me access and play my media on the TV using a remote. I'd hate it if I suddenly had to start navigating the main interface with a remote, and so would anybody who was at my house trying to figure out how to play some music.

gpvillamil:

--- Quote from: Doof on June 28, 2006, 06:09:12 am ---See, I kind of disagree with this. I really don't see how or why anybody would want to be doing all of their media management with a remote. It's just not going to be as good an interface for that kind of work as the main interface is. The remote-based interface needs to be simple to navigate and easy to play the media I want. I'm not going to spend any time at all tagging media with the remote, or trying to rip or burn CDs.  The main interface is great for the various jobs I need to do. Theater View is great (could be better) for letting me access and play my media on the TV using a remote. I'd hate it if I suddenly had to start navigating the main interface with a remote, and so would anybody who was at my house trying to figure out how to play some music.

--- End quote ---
I can see what you are saying - basically when you are in scenario 2, you never do anything in scenario 1.b.

The problem I have is that the computer I use for media playback ONLY has the big plasma screen, and the wireless keyboard. The current main interface is very hard to use for me, and I can't get what I need done in Theater view. I think the simplifications I propose for the main view will probably make it easier to use in any scenario, so nothing is lost.

I can understand how Theater view is useful as a remote-based playback view.

Doof:
Exactly. :)

See, in my situation, I do all of my 1.b stuff on my main PC. Then for the Theater View PC, I just do a Library Update, and all of the tag changes I made carry through. Originally I tried using Library Server, but it's performance wasn't up to snuff (no APE playback was the biggest thing - I didn't rip all of my CDs to APE just to listen to MP3s on my surround sound). I don't actually create playlists on the Theater View PC. Now that I think about it, that's probably just because it's not really possible. But I don't miss it. I mostly just play individual albums on the Theater View PC. Come to think of it... I never really build playlists on my main PC either.

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