Re: [GnomeMeeting-devel-list] Ideas for a new GUI

[Peter Robinson <pbrobinson gmail com>]

> However, most people want a more modern GUI.

Define a modern gui? In general the GUI could probably do with a bit
of a cleanup. Things like borderless icons and the like (similar to
Evolution etc) How much of it has been done to the Gnome HIG? Also the
call icon that appear in the panel could be modernised a bit.

Another possibile layout could be a minimal layout sort of like what
rhythmbox/itunes uses where you could take it down to essentially a
menu bar, display to see who's calling, and answer/reject buttons and
a MWI. If you then answer a call you could add a timer to the display
along side the caller and if its a video call the video could appear
below it, if not it remains the same. The display could also flash
things like missed calls/if there's a call waiting/how many voice
messages/etc sort of like a mobile phone.

> The rest of the GUI needs to contain at least:
> - a part to display the video
> - a dialpad
> - a statistics window
> - sliders to adjust the audio / video settings

I think the stats should be able to turned on and off because a lot of
people won't care about stats if everything is working well (sound is
good) and it sort of wastes space, although its good for the more tech
oriented.
 
> I had the idea to do something like Skype : everything in tabs. But that
> is not very convenient. For example, imagine that you have a video
> answering machine, and want to consult your video&voicemails. You will
> need access to the dialpad (to navigate through the menus and mails),
> and to the video (to watch the messages). Skype-like UI's do not allow
> that, and having to switch between tabs is ... boring.

I hate tabs in general, I don't think they are that user friendly.
They have their place (like in config dialogs and for browsers) but
can hide important information. I think for some users it just
confuses them (I love tabbed browsing but it totally confuses my
parents)

> On the other side, having the big GnomeMeeting logo displayed all the
> time, even when there is no call, or when it is a voice-only call means
> 7wasted space.

I would agree with that. What about having the Dial Pad and video
window in the same space. When there's a video call hide the dialpad
and show the video and have a button to toggle it.

> We have thus 3 possibilities :
> 1) display video when required, in a separate window. Keep the dialpad
> in the main window.
> 2) display video when required, but keep it in the main window, next to
> OR above the dialpad (very similar to what we have now, except that the
> video part wouldn't always be shown).
> 3) always display the video window. Display the dialpad in a separate
> window.

Can we not collapse/resize the window when components are turned
on/off? So have a long thin window if video, dialpad and stats are on
and a stumpy one when none are?

Just my 2p worth

Cheers
Pete