[REQ] Enhanced Help for User Interface Nomenclature [#20361, 20362]
Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2023 8:48 pm
Here is a request to the mutual benefit of users and support staff - improve the help texts which describe the names for parts of the MM5 user interface.
One recurring problem that I see in the help and bug forums is that people who are new to MM (and some of us who have been at it for a while) are not certain of what to call the different parts of the screen, so that a support dialog frequently has to go back and forth to get agreement/understanding on what elements are under discussion. Personally, it has taken me a looong time to figure out your preferred terms for the parts of the screen.
There is a basic description of the screen elements in the help files, but it is abstract, diffuse and inconsistent. The term "User Interface" doesn't appear at all in the help files, and the only definitive lists of what you call the parts of the screen are in text under the heading "Basic Concepts". There is a description of panels at the wiki webhelp page at https://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/WebHel ... Tracks/5.0, but that uses two pages of text requiring close scruitiny and an agile sense of direction. Some further guidance can be obtained from https://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/WebHel ... the_Layout, but it isn't structured the same way. I suggest that an annotated series of interface images would do much better. Here's an example of my understanding of the MM5 UI screen elements - you can see that I'm still uncertain about some parts and I'm happy to be corrected
And, it's not just making the naming explicit - the same parts of the screen are referred to by different names in different parts of the help and UI. For instance, a recent thread discussed the activity of the playing list at top right, referred to via four different terms:
Of course, the extreme flexibility that you've engineered into the user interface via the Configure Layout controls - letting a user put almost anything almost anywhere (as far as I can tell) - does you no favours when it comes to explaining it. Yes it is complex and yes it may be a bit abstract, but I think you should try to embrace the main modes that people use it in and illustrate those visually in the help files.
So I suggest that you overhaul the referenced help page with annotated UI images and then refer people to that link when it is apparent that they need help telling you what they're looking at.
Cheers
Matt
One recurring problem that I see in the help and bug forums is that people who are new to MM (and some of us who have been at it for a while) are not certain of what to call the different parts of the screen, so that a support dialog frequently has to go back and forth to get agreement/understanding on what elements are under discussion. Personally, it has taken me a looong time to figure out your preferred terms for the parts of the screen.
There is a basic description of the screen elements in the help files, but it is abstract, diffuse and inconsistent. The term "User Interface" doesn't appear at all in the help files, and the only definitive lists of what you call the parts of the screen are in text under the heading "Basic Concepts". There is a description of panels at the wiki webhelp page at https://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/WebHel ... Tracks/5.0, but that uses two pages of text requiring close scruitiny and an agile sense of direction. Some further guidance can be obtained from https://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/WebHel ... the_Layout, but it isn't structured the same way. I suggest that an annotated series of interface images would do much better. Here's an example of my understanding of the MM5 UI screen elements - you can see that I'm still uncertain about some parts and I'm happy to be corrected
And, it's not just making the naming explicit - the same parts of the screen are referred to by different names in different parts of the help and UI. For instance, a recent thread discussed the activity of the playing list at top right, referred to via four different terms:
- in Options>Layout as "Right Panel">"Playing",
- again in Options>Layout as "Playing List",
- in the help text as "Playing", and
- in the support thread as "Now Playing".
Of course, the extreme flexibility that you've engineered into the user interface via the Configure Layout controls - letting a user put almost anything almost anywhere (as far as I can tell) - does you no favours when it comes to explaining it. Yes it is complex and yes it may be a bit abstract, but I think you should try to embrace the main modes that people use it in and illustrate those visually in the help files.
So I suggest that you overhaul the referenced help page with annotated UI images and then refer people to that link when it is apparent that they need help telling you what they're looking at.
Cheers
Matt