14 replies to this topic

[Cervesia]

First this game started with just one Click "Launch", then two clicks "Launch" then "Ready", now three clicks, "Play", then "OK", then "Ready".

Where is the Useability Team?

I guess next they need the MS "Are You Sure You Want to Play? Click here Now" button.

My 2 cents... Play = Ready, don't press Play if you are not ready, and make that constant option to select play type go away.

[PenitentTangent]

are you actually complaining about having to click your mouse 3 times instead of once?

QQ threads... QQ threads everywhere.

[Roland]

PenitentTangent, on 06 February 2014 - 07:30 PM, said:

are you actually complaining about having to click your mouse 3 times instead of once?

QQ threads... QQ threads everywhere.

Having to click the times instead of once is indicative of a very poorly designed user interface. One of the most fundamental principles of user interface design dictates that you should always reduce the number of use interactions to perform operations, especially common operations.

Consider how many times you are going to join a game. Now multiply that by two and you have the number of wasted clicks just doing that one operation.

It isn't that clicking your mouse twice is hard. It is that having tons of extra clicks to perform common tasks leads to an interface which feels extremely clunky and annoying.

There are books on this stuff. It isn't like there are already established principles of use interface design.

[Mechteric]

More clicks usually means more complexity, which is seen in the mech lab when traversing the parts and equipment for your mech. Hopefully they will reel this in over the next few patches to make the experience quicker.

[Bhael Fire]

Yes, there lots of inefficiency and redundancy in the new UI design, which is frustrating.

Hopefully these things will get streamlined and perfected over the coming months once the dust from construction settles.

[Kaeb Odellas]

PenitentTangent, on 06 February 2014 - 07:30 PM, said:

are you actually complaining about having to click your mouse 3 times instead of once?

QQ threads... QQ threads everywhere.

If a dialogue box popped up with 3 checkboxes labeled "yes" and 3 labeled "no", and told you to check 3 identical boxes to confirm a selection, wouldn't you think "Man, what an incredibly convoluted and dumb waste of time!"

This is basically what the current interface is doing, and it's doing it everywhere. There are extraneous dialogue boxes in the skills menu. You have to click multiple tabs and buttons on different parts of the screen to make even the minutest change in a Mech's loadout, transfer components from one mech to another, or even confirm that a mech contains a component or module in the first place. Plus, since the mechlab is now fullscreen, your having to click many different parts of the screen for even the simplest change.

Consider the process for changing your status to "Ready" after modifying your mech lab while in a group. You have to:

1. Click "Check out" (Bottom left)
2. Confirm your mech changes in the dialogue box (Center)
3. Exit the Mechlab (Top left)
4. Click the social button to bring up the group menu (Bottom center)
5. Change your status to ready (top left)

Then someone says on Teamspeak, "Hey, don't forget your modules!"

Crap! Now you have to:

1. Change status to not ready so your group doesn't launch (top left)
2. Close the social menu by clicking the tiny [x] button (Right side of screen)
3. Open mechlab (top bar)
4. Find you mech again because there's no way to just configure your currently selected mech (Multiple clicks if depending on how many mechs you own)
5. Click the tiny configure button (Center?)
6. Open modules (Top left)
7. Equip modules (multiple possible clicks, god help you if your modules are equipped on a different mech.)
8. Repeat the 5-step "Ready-up" sequence.

This UI is cumbersome and unwieldy. It's not that we're lazy. We're frustrated that this clumsy UI is forcing us to waste time on extraneous steps on what should be very simple processes.

[CDLord HHGD]

I have to admit I am annoyed by the:
1) Purchase?
2) Purchase with what?
3) Sure you want to purchase?
4) Congrats, you purchased!
5) Checkout.

What is this, Windows Vista??

Edited by cdlord, 07 February 2014 - 09:45 AM.

[HammerSwarm]

Roland, on 06 February 2014 - 08:27 PM, said:

Having to click the times instead of once is indicative of a very poorly designed user interface. One of the most fundamental principles of user interface design dictates that you should always reduce the number of use interactions to perform operations, especially common operations.

Consider how many times you are going to join a game. Now multiply that by two and you have the number of wasted clicks just doing that one operation.

It isn't that clicking your mouse twice is hard. It is that having tons of extra clicks to perform common tasks leads to an interface which feels extremely clunky and annoying.

There are books on this stuff. It isn't like there are already established principles of use interface design.

The time I spend navigating menus to complete simple tasks makes my brain bleed and the lack of a functional back key like escape to take me back to the base menu is killing me.

Combine that with the overall scale being terrible, I play on a very large screen, I play about 6-8 feet back from my large screen, I can't read any of the 1/4" tall letters.

Is the mechlab background is so important it needs to literally be shown so fully without zooming in on my mech a bit? My locust takes up less than the bottom half of my screen.

Ugh,

Start getting responsive PGI. If I could have a menu resolution and an in game resolution that might help as well.

[Clownwarlord]

It actually goes: "Would you like to know more?" and has a button next to it.

[LauLiao]

Totally misread the title of this thread and thought it said "How many CHICKS does it take..." and was all ready to jump in and call you a misogynist. My mistake, carry on.

[Bagheera]

PenitentTangent, on 06 February 2014 - 07:30 PM, said:

are you actually complaining about having to click your mouse 3 times instead of once?

QQ threads... QQ threads everywhere.

Please never, ever go into user interface design. The drilling down in the new UI is ludicrous. Where is the "Exit" button in the main UI screen? Why do I have to logout and then exit. It's inelegant and inexcusable in 2014. UI designers should know better these days.

[Enzane]

Actually I'm quite happy in 12 mans!

When we fail to find a match. (quite frequently). I don't have to wait for everyone to re-ready!

Sad That the "Any" "Assault" "Skirmisher" "Conquest" choice isn't set anymore. it has to be re-checked each time.

[Roland]

Kaeb Odellas, on 07 February 2014 - 09:28 AM, said:

If a dialogue box popped up with 3 checkboxes labeled "yes" and 3 labeled "no", and told you to check 3 identical boxes to confirm a selection, wouldn't you think "Man, what an incredibly convoluted and dumb waste of time!"

This is basically what the current interface is doing, and it's doing it everywhere. There are extraneous dialogue boxes in the skills menu. You have to click multiple tabs and buttons on different parts of the screen to make even the minutest change in a Mech's loadout, transfer components from one mech to another, or even confirm that a mech contains a component or module in the first place. Plus, since the mechlab is now fullscreen, your having to click many different parts of the screen for even the simplest change.

Consider the process for changing your status to "Ready" after modifying your mech lab while in a group. You have to:

1. Click "Check out" (Bottom left)
2. Confirm your mech changes in the dialogue box (Center)
3. Exit the Mechlab (Top left)
4. Click the social button to bring up the group menu (Bottom center)
5. Change your status to ready (top left)

Then someone says on Teamspeak, "Hey, don't forget your modules!"

Crap! Now you have to:

1. Change status to not ready so your group doesn't launch (top left)
2. Close the social menu by clicking the tiny [x] button (Right side of screen)
3. Open mechlab (top bar)
4. Find you mech again because there's no way to just configure your currently selected mech (Multiple clicks if depending on how many mechs you own)
5. Click the tiny configure button (Center?)
6. Open modules (Top left)
7. Equip modules (multiple possible clicks, god help you if your modules are equipped on a different mech.)
8. Repeat the 5-step "Ready-up" sequence.

This UI is cumbersome and unwieldy. It's not that we're lazy. We're frustrated that this clumsy UI is forcing us to waste time on extraneous steps on what should be very simple processes.

This is a very good summary of exactly what is wrong with the interface, or rather, the key design principles which were overlooked.

The number of clicks, combined with the distance that you must traverse with your mouse BETWEEN those clicks, are what cause the interface to feel so incredibly bad when you use it. You are making a very large amount of movement for extremely common tasks.

Reducing the number of clicks, or the distance between them, would both go a long way towards improving the user interface dramatically.

[Kaeb Odellas]

Enzane, on 07 February 2014 - 01:16 PM, said:

Actually I'm quite happy in 12 mans!

When we fail to find a match. (quite frequently). I don't have to wait for everyone to re-ready!

Sad That the "Any" "Assault" "Skirmisher" "Conquest" choice isn't set anymore. it has to be re-checked each time.

Okay, I will give them credit for eliminating re-ready on matchmaking failures. That was super annoying.

[Enzane]

I've found TWO Good things about UI2.0

1. Not having to wait for everyone to re-ready in 12 mans after a failed search.
2. Cammo Editor now automatically lists all your owned paints.