tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786943470229490405.post4561339523364202945..comments2023-10-25T06:48:11.261-07:00Comments on Simon: Open-Source Speech Recognition: Simon: UsabilityAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05807135490747405853noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786943470229490405.post-57926370535286620932012-05-04T11:55:54.849-07:002012-05-04T11:55:54.849-07:00I don't know why but I only got your last comm...I don't know why but I only got your last comment as an email notification. Something wrong with blogger perhaps but on the off chance you deleted it for some reason I don't want to repost it without your consent so here is just my reply:<br />I reworded and rearranged the buttons, thanks for the suggestion.<br /><br />And about the spacing around the widgets: The welcome screen is just a page in a tab widget (the one which is then filled up with wordlist / grammar / etc). The spacing issue should pretty much disappear once I refactor the tab widget into something nicer :)<br /><br />And I love your nitpicking. I'm sure you'll find more stuff to fix in Simon. You know where to find the code, right? Go ahead!<br /><br />Best regards,<br />PeterAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05807135490747405853noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786943470229490405.post-92125998334756053222012-05-03T16:09:36.703-07:002012-05-03T16:09:36.703-07:00You are welcome and I'm glad you could use som...You are welcome and I'm glad you could use some of them at least. :)<br /><br />> And yes, the program looks *very* busy as the volume calibration is active (and therefore constantly moving). But that's <br />> intentional: During "normal" operation, Simon is always hidden in the system tray. The only time it's visible is when the user <br />> changes his configuration.<br /><br />Which is of course fine, just keep in mind that you don't want to overload that page with information, even if it is not open too often. :) You are right that there is not a lot of unnecessary text there and with the changes to the group boxes it looks a lot cleaner.<br /><br />> That's actually not the scenario name but the name of the text. Scenarios can provide more than one trainings-text<br />> and they can be named arbitrarily. There is no 1:1 for Scenario <> Text.<br /><br />Ah, right, I did not realise that. Then it makes sense to keep them separate indeed.<br /><br />> Actually, I like it that way. It's like a "Next >" button in a wizard - and that's exactly how it should be interpreted.<br /><br />Hmm, that works yes. One comment then would be that it might be a good idea to swap the "Open Scenario" and "Manage Scenarios" buttons. The Open button has a direct relation to the content above it, whereas the Manage button does not. Looking at it from a dialog point of view, personally I would expect "Next" to do something with the content.<br /><br />Speaking of which, I notice there is a slight difference in the language used on the buttons in the top row in comparison with those on the bottom row. The buttons on the top row imply something will happen when you push them whereas the bottom ones do not. Using "Configure Acoustic Model" and "Configure Audio" would match the top row and also match better with KDE's language, for example the actions in many a Settings menu.<br /><br />> That's what the welcome page looks like now: http://wstaw.org/m/2012/05/02/plasma-desktopsa4123.png<br /><br />Alright, one last nitpick: There seems to be some additional spacing around the four central boxes which causes them to be indented compared to the menu and the status bar, quite noticeable on the right-bottom corner. Just something you might want to look at. :)<br /><br />P.S.: Sorry if I sound a little nitpicky. :)ahiemstrahttp://gluon.gamingfreedom.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786943470229490405.post-38942438127523030332012-05-01T23:44:10.239-07:002012-05-01T23:44:10.239-07:00Hi!
> Might I suggest to remove the topmost ta...Hi!<br /><br />> Might I suggest to remove the topmost tab bar and replace it with a vertical list<br />Good idea! -> On my todo list.<br /><br />> Try changing the group boxes to flat for example and reducing the amount of text on the page.<br />Flat group boxes do look better, you're right. There is no separation from the headline ("Welcome...") to the content then, however. I removed that and now it does really look a lot cleaner.<br /><br />Other than that, I'm afraid there is no text I can safely remove without sacrificing either discoverability or functionality.<br /><br />And yes, the program looks *very* busy as the volume calibration is active (and therefore constantly moving). But that's intentional: During "normal" operation, Simon is always hidden in the system tray. The only time it's visible is when the user changes his configuration.<br /><br />> For example, in the recognition group, the "Last recognition result" text is left aligned, whereas the Device: text is centre-aligned, creating an unbalanced group.<br />That was actually just triple-spacing. Fixed.<br /><br />> The same applies to the "Training" group where the text and table are left-aligned but the button is right-aligned.<br />Actually, I like it that way. It's like a "Next >" button in a wizard - and that's exactly how it should be interpreted.<br /><br />> Speaking of which, why is the Training group separate from the Scenarios group?<br />That's actually not the scenario name but the name of the text. Scenarios can provide more than one trainings-text and they can be named arbitrarily. There is no 1:1 for Scenario <> Text.<br /><br />Thanks for all the suggestions! That's what the welcome page looks like now: http://wstaw.org/m/2012/05/02/plasma-desktopsa4123.png<br /><br />Best regards,<br />PeterAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05807135490747405853noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786943470229490405.post-82285267312481413012012-05-01T16:22:07.186-07:002012-05-01T16:22:07.186-07:00It's a good start. :)
One of the first things...It's a good start. :)<br /><br />One of the first things I notice however, is that you have two levels of tabs on the "Wordlist" page. This is generally considered to be bad usabilty. Might I suggest to remove the topmost tab bar and replace it with a vertical list similar to that used in the settings dialog? It is a pattern that is used more often in other applications as well and I personally consider it to be quite nice.<br /><br />I would personally also try and reduce the amount of noise on the start page. Right now, it looks rather busy. Try changing the group boxes to flat for example and reducing the amount of text on the page. Also, try to get the alignment of items similar. For example, in the recognition group, the "Last recognition result" text is left aligned, whereas the Device: text is centre-aligned, creating an unbalanced group. The same applies to the "Training" group where the text and table are left-aligned but the button is right-aligned.<br /><br />Speaking of which, why is the Training group separate from the Scenarios group? It seems to me they could be merged, which would avoid repeating information (the scenario name). Also, I would suggest to use a two-line list approach rather than a table, with the name and icon on the first line and the "Pages" and "Relevance" numbers on the second line. You could move the acoustic model group to the place where now the Training group is and make it possible to have a longer list of scenarios by extending the scenarios group down into the spot where the acoustic model group used to be.<br /><br />Anyway, just some suggestions. For the rest, keep up the good work, nobody ever does UIs perfect in one go. :)ahiemstrahttp://gluon.gamingfreedom.orgnoreply@blogger.com