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ondrej  
#1 Posted : Friday, August 22, 2014 4:34:36 PM(UTC)
ondrej

Rank: Advanced Member

Joined: 6/20/2011(UTC)
Posts: 37
Man
Czech Republic
Location: Czech Republic

I wish classic Office 2003 user interface back in version 3.x.
New flat Metro-like user interface is not intuitive, looks bad and it have some major flaws.
I also want to hear opinions of other users on this matter.
reptc  
#2 Posted : Monday, August 25, 2014 11:12:48 PM(UTC)
reptc

Rank: Newbie

Joined: 9/16/2013(UTC)
Posts: 3

I like general visual direction of the new theme, and I love that I can finally change size of tag windows. But I don't like the fact that too much pixels are wasted. MT v2.x didn't have the most efficient design either, but MT3 is worse in that regard.

- The bottom bar is not really necessary. Tracking toggle button could be displayed on the menu/title bar and version indicator is hardly useful in the most situation.
- Only icons are needed in menu bar. The icons are pretty much self explanatory and tooltips are show up fast. You don't have to show Date, Tags, Stopwatch, etc to explain what they are for.
- Two grey bars above and below timelines are too wide.
- Allow to remove any timeline bars. Personally I don't use document title tracking so the Document bar is only taking up spaces without any benefits, and I don't see Computer Usage bar is any useful when I can easily see when I was on and away on Applications timeline.

On a side note, I'm still eagerly waiting for customizable minimum tracking time. (not fixed 5 seconds basis) I hope it's not something hard to implement.

Edited by user Monday, August 25, 2014 11:18:56 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

amenthes  
#3 Posted : Tuesday, August 26, 2014 11:20:46 AM(UTC)
amenthes

Rank: Member

Joined: 6/19/2010(UTC)
Posts: 11

Currently, it looks a little "unfinished", because, well, probably it is unfinished. That said, i think it just looks unusual to us. And based on that, i would not reject it. I'll get used to it, and then the old interface will look antiquated ;-) .

If i had to change anything about it, it would be general sizing and spacing of stuff. Coming from this screenshot here, i have the following suggestions (top to bottom):


  • the top bar takes up a HUGE part of the application. (With top i mean "day/timesheet/stats" AND the blue bar below that.) It appears to be about twice the size as it is today, and i can't really see, why. I'd rather have more space for the scrolling lists in the lower third.
  • The logo is huge as well, but horizontal space isn't my concern, so this is merely an observation.
  • The grayish timeline appears to be a little high, as well.
  • Why is there a gray ~4px spacing between timelines? That serves no purpose.
  • Font-sizes and styles are all over the place, i especially dislike the labels of the timelines (I, personally would LOVE to just disable them altogether, even back in 2.x. I know what's what. I don't need them cluttering up my data.)
  • I don't understand the gray blob between the zoom-bar and the 2-pane scrolling part. That is just wasted space, right?
  • Filter and footer take up a lot of space, too. Maybe they could just be combined?

Edited by user Tuesday, August 26, 2014 11:22:29 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

ondrej  
#4 Posted : Wednesday, August 27, 2014 9:28:48 AM(UTC)
ondrej

Rank: Advanced Member

Joined: 6/20/2011(UTC)
Posts: 37
Man
Czech Republic
Location: Czech Republic

I don't agree with flat Metro UI, even when some of the big products (from Microsoft) forcibly using it. It is something that should be only on Microsoft's failed Windows RT platform, where normal desktop applications can't exist.

Now major flaws in new ManicTime Metro UI:

Picture 1

1. Inconsistent UI. Some of the controls are default Windows controls (Windows, CheckBoxes, RadioButtons, ComboBoxes, ScrollBars) and rest of controls are custom themed.
There are tiny controls that can be easily overlooked and are undistinguished (Settings and Info). It is not clear what tab is selected on first look on custom themed TabControl.

2. Clock logo have no function, it is too big and very distracting.

3. Wasted vertical space by StatusBar and Filter on two rows. Gray gap between timelines and lists is also wasted vertical space. Keep in mind that lot of users have widescreens with pitiful vertical space.

Picture 2

4. Black text on dark blue background is unreadable.

User interface in versions 2.x was clean, intuitive and good looking.
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