Re: Multimedia

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"Dean Roddey" <droddey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:Cr9wg.70821$Lm5.58229@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Here are some more that a guy has been working on as part of his
automation
> business. They look quite nice:
>
> http://www.5280automation.com/interfaces/gallery/1-CarbonFiber-Home.jpg

<stuff snipped>

Really nice work, but not as interesting as IVB's work for a number of
reasons.  The menu screens he's developed, like the one with the soap
bubbles, not only seem to be easier to understand and more friendly to
non-geeks, he's made the buttons different sizes and uses size to indicate
the more frequently used functions.  That flies in the face of standard
interface design where all controls are equivalent but in my view it is
superior because page after page of similar looking screens and buttons tend
to merge into each other.

Typically, the most frequently used controls would be placed at the top of a
list, but I like the larger buttons better.  They instantly and
unambiguously communicate which buttons are the ones you're most likely to
press.  The strong design elements on each menu screen also made it very
clear what screen you're on and that's something that the high-tech looks
tend to do poorly.  They all look very much alike and human factors
engineers claim that's an invitation to press the wrong buttons.  It would
be hard to confuse the soap bubble screen with something else and that, to
me at least, is a very good thing in an HA control system (or any control
system, for that matter).

--
Bobby G.