Propel, good laucher...usability and style to improve drammatically

[magdyreda]

As paxton I had 1.01 installed for about one day then I've deleted it because of usability and looking. But I am sure I'll be back as soon as Iambic improves the points listed below...

- Aesthetic: Already my Treo 680 interface looks dated and poor compared to all my friends phones (Nokia, Panasonic, Sony and so on) so I expected something new from Palm on the Treo 680 but nothing (well, the phone interface is much better). Propel could have been the saver but actually it is not. Take Fa**r La****er for example (I don't know if I can write about other products so I added ** :D )...the engine is very poor but at least it makes Treos looks a little bit better with a clean and nice interface. I think Iambic has money enough to get a designer and work on it....right?:D

- Usability: Maybe it is me but, even understanding the programmer wants to show the power of Propel, there are way too many things on the screen...4 lines of tools (search, name of the view, tabs and small tools icons) is too much. I don't think you need tabs the way they exist now because they are hard to select with the 5 ways selection of my Treo...much better to click the home button many times!!! The tool icons are a mix of everything that satisfies nobody...I think! Much better to integrate them in a contextual menu). The contact view is useless and I'll explain why with the summary.

THE SUMMARY

The core of Propel is the Power User tool...right? So make Propel all around it!
One interface/view...the Apps for example. Once you digit something it shows the Power User inteface with the result of my input...that's it...the contact view? Useless as I said because I have them with the Power User Input and because they are one click away...as Agendus and I prefer this one. The favorites can be one of the categories (Main, Multimedia, Utility...Favorites).
As I said the idea and the features are great...only usability and looking are way too far away from what we would like to see in 2007.
Tks and have a great day...we are sure you'll make Propel great!:up:

[Confused Vorlon]

Hi magdyreda,

thanks for posting - user feedback is what will make Propel Great (er!)

couple of thoughts that might help you.
re Useability:
-you can choose to hide the category gadget (just tap on the up arrow to the right of it)
-you can choose to hide the view name (menu/preferences/display/contents uncheck 'show view name'

re tools - what tools would you show? (all of them are in the record menu as well, and are mostly available by tapping and holding an item)

re the core being the power user view - you are 100% correct. However, that can be a very intimidating place for people to start when they are used to a 'standard' launcher. That's why we have the apps view as the (familar) entry point, with a hope that people will progress to the power user view and never look back.

I'll disagree with you a bit on favourites - they are quite different from a category.
here is how they are intended:
-you pick the 5-10 items you use most and make them favourites.
-launch propel and most of the time, you'll use the 5way to select one, or just tap on the one you want.
if you want something else, you don't need to switch out of favourites mode or change category or anything like that. You just type. Immediately, you are searching the whole list.

thanks again for your comments.

[magdyreda]

Hi Vorlon, thank you for the reply.:D
Yes, I was a little bit long and maybe unprecise on some points and yes, there are ways to hide some of the menus.
The point I wanted to communicate is that Propel interface is the opposite of what Palm interface should be. Yes, working around it you can make it simpler and more effective but the first impression you have is MESSY. That is why another user unistalled it in 5 minutes, me in a day and someone else wrote bad words and had a discussion with Adriano (that is another story). I don't know about others but at the moment I am not sure how popular this application is with users.
Maybe it should start without too many item bars and let the user discover the application power slower. The tabs should disappear completely (bad in looking and not necessary...find another way, we complain with the tool bar of Win Mobile and then we complicate things ourself in Palm!
About favorites...yes, I love it and I understand what it is but you don't need an icon to go there...just put it between the categories to save space at the bottom.
And about the icons at the bottom....beaming, SD, delete...are all contextual so you don't need to have them there.
Yes, the Power User interface is intimidating and for that reason you don't need it at all...start with the normal application icon interface (you showld change category by pressing home again and again or left and right or whatever....when you digit on the keyboard Propel shows the Power User result...simple and clean. As it is now the userface is unfriendly...that's it.

I am happy you didn't write a single word about the looking accepting the fact that it really looks dated (as Palm native interface is....:sour: ).

Look at the Applications View image in the Propel Features page: do you think it is acceptable to have App names ending with dots (Agend..AllTim..Blueto..)? What about the Tabs going right out of the screen so that you even don't know what it is there unless you 5ways there and check. I know that when you disagree about a creation the autor feels nervous as we are talking about him but Iambic should take my words as a sign of respect for their work and great products.

From a programmer point of view it must be a wonderful application and I am sure Iambic worked a lot on it but from a user point of view it is not usable and not beautiful.

Make it simple, elegant and modern (mVoice, Pocket Tunes, DocumentsToGo are some clear examples of nice looking interfaces)...that is all we need with out Treos.
Tks

[magdyreda]

Iambic, hello again!
Well, I've installed again Propel and I'll keep it for another one or two days.
Saying the truth...already, having disabled tabs, view name and some other tuning it is better and cleaner...at least as my loved Agendus (and also that should have a restyling anyway!).
A day or two and I'll be back here with some feedback. :D
Tks

[Confused Vorlon]

one specific question.

re:
do you think it is acceptable to have App names ending with dots (Agend..AllTim..Blueto..)

what should Propel do when the app name is too long for the available space?
-the ... solution is the one that the built in launcher uses!

[magdyreda]

Hello Vorlon, nice to have you here again. You know, in my small town there is a saying "Devil is in the details".
It is easy to try and oppose ones opinion by only pointing at one aspect of the idea...anyway...

What I did in 24h:
- I've disabled tabs
- I've disables view names
- I've added a beautiful background image
- I've activated favourites
- I've activated only two views: Apps (Icon Mode 4x4) and Power Mode view (List Mode).

Starting from here I am adding possibilities trying different configurations and I found another aspect of Propel that I love (other than the Power Mode, really powerful and useful): the interface of Propel is open to personal configurations in almost every aspect and that is very nice:up: !

QUESTIONS AT THIS POINT

Imagine I keep always the Power Mode view in Icon Mode because it looks better that list mode. At this point I activate a power search...the result will be shown in Icon Mode too...and that is not usable...Search should give list results even if the screen is set in Icon Mode. Is it possible to add this possibility?

Now I understand the different views...not for me but someone could like to see only music, contacts and so on.
But I don't understand why you have Power View and Apps view. I mean, why don't you activate a Power Search directly in the Apps view?
Why don't you make me create views like categories...this way I would like View much more than now.

Still I don't understand the criteria that leads the choice of the tool icons at the bottom of the screen...to many, too small. It took many versions to make Agendus bottom icons usable. I am sure you can do better also here.

Final: yes Vorlon, you may be right about titles with dots. The limits are all in the Palm OS and I am sorry to admit I have a dark side asking me to buy the WinTreo only because of its modern interface. But I'll resist until the end of this year 2007 hoping Palm or Access will deliver the miracle.
Meanwhile, please Iambic, I ask you please...deliver some skin for Propel...as you may read from my first post I am moving from a negative score to a positive score...the more I use Propel the more I understand it and like it...probably the first impact with it is hard...make it simple and nice and people will understand it quicker than me!
Deliver some nice skin, make the power search available in list mode even if coming from a icon mode and I'll buy it.:)