GeoReporter Interface Questions

[Cliff Ingham]

On 06/17/2013 05:51 PM, Marius Constantinescu wrote:> Hi,
>
> Yes, I started working these days. So far, I have:
> - removed the tab bar (changes in the storyboard - segues; just about
> navigation so far, not about content)
> - added "report to" button to the table on the home screen, so we have
> navigation through all the screens without the tabbar
> The first attachment shows how the home screen looks now.
>
> Need to do before I commit:
> - go through the code and eliminate / change references to the tabbar
> controller, and implement the navigation without it
>
> Questions / Stuff which needs to be discussed (maybe I should ask this part
> on the group?):
> 1. personally, I don't see the point of the "Settings" button in the
> navigation bar for the home screen, which opens the "reporting as" screen.
> I think it is redundant and not very intuitive. Is it ok if I remove it? We
> have a button on the home screen which opens the "Reporting as" screen.
> 2. if I remove the "Settings" button, then in the home screen we will have
> an empty navigation bar. In this case, there are two possibilities:
>    a. I don't show the navigation bar at all on the home screen
>    b. I show it and have as a title the name of the server. (similar to
> attachment 2)
> Which ones d you think would be better?
> 3. I would like to move the "About" button from the right side of the
> navigation bar in the "Reporting as" screen to the home screen, in the form
> of a small information button, like in the second attachment. I really
> think this is a god idea, because this way, the "About" button is in a
> screen in which you would actually expect it t be, and at the same time,
> it's not very invasive, as it doesn't draw attention to it that much, to be
> considered part of the actual menu of the app.
> 4. If no server is chosen, the first screen that appears in the current
> version on AppStore is the "Choose server". This makes very much sense, but
> in my opinion, some things need to be considered:
>   a. more information should be shown on that screen, saying very briefly
> that the user needs to choose a server in order to use the app, an maybe
> describe very briefly the app (non-emergency issue reporter).
>   b. what happens if the user doesn't choose a server? Should I have this
> screen like a "dead-end", where the only way to navigate away from if is by
> clicking on an available server? Right now, that screen has a "back" button
> on the navigaton bar, which takes the user to the home screen. Should i
> disable that button if no server is chosen? Or, if the user taps that
> button, should I show an alert message saying something like "please choose
> a server in order to be able to use the app", but allow the navigation to
> the home screen?
> Personally, I would choose to not show the "back" button if no server is
> chosen, and show some more information on that screen, because in some
> cases, that is actually the first screen of the app.
>
> Also, I have another question: why is the code in
> https://github.com/City-of-Bloomington/open311-mobile/blob/master/GeoReporter/GeoReporter/Controllers/HomeController.m#L50-L70in
> the viewWillAppear? Do we really need it executed every time that view
> is shown? Personally, I would move it to viewDidLoad. What do you think?
>
> Thanks,
> Marius

[Cliff Ingham]

On Tuesday, June 18, 2013 9:02:44 AM UTC-4, Cliff Ingham wrote:

On 06/17/2013 05:51 PM, Marius Constantinescu wrote:> Hi,

> 1. personally, I don't see the point of the "Settings" button in the
> navigation bar for the home screen, which opens the "reporting as" screen.
> I think it is redundant and not very intuitive. Is it ok if I remove it? We
> have a button on the home screen which opens the "Reporting as" screen.

In addition to the "Choosing a Server" setting, there is also the settings for entering your name and contact information to be used when reporting.  I had lumped both of them under settings.  Granted, the server would be changed more frequently than the contact information.
 

> 2. if I remove the "Settings" button, then in the home screen we will have
> an empty navigation bar. In this case, there are two possibilities:
>    a. I don't show the navigation bar at all on the home screen
>    b. I show it and have as a title the name of the server. (similar to
> attachment 2)

We may not need a home screen at all, provided we are able to display which server you are pointing to.  Most of the rest of the screens are pretty crowded and I ended up not continuing to display the server name.  That is why I decided to have a home screen.    So, as it is right now, the home screen's only purpose is to show which server you are connected to.  If we can accomplish that another way, maybe we can get rid of the home screen altogether.

Either way, if there's nothing to display in the navigation bar, it seems fine to remove the navigation bar from the home screen. (Assuming the home screen survives).


 

> Which ones d you think would be better?
> 3. I would like to move the "About" button from the right side of the
> navigation bar in the "Reporting as" screen to the home screen, in the form
> of a small information button, like in the second attachment. I really
> think this is a god idea, because this way, the "About" button is in a
> screen in which you would actually expect it t be, and at the same time,
> it's not very invasive, as it doesn't draw attention to it that much, to be
> considered part of the actual menu of the app.

The About information is important to keep around, but it is a very small thing.  The link to it can go anywhere that seems sensible.
 

> 4. If no server is chosen, the first screen that appears in the current
> version on AppStore is the "Choose server". This makes very much sense, but
> in my opinion, some things need to be considered:
>   a. more information should be shown on that screen, saying very briefly
> that the user needs to choose a server in order to use the app, an maybe
> describe very briefly the app (non-emergency issue reporter).
>   b. what happens if the user doesn't choose a server? Should I have this
> screen like a "dead-end", where the only way to navigate away from if is by
> clicking on an available server? Right now, that screen has a "back" button
> on the navigaton bar, which takes the user to the home screen. Should i
> disable that button if no server is chosen? Or, if the user taps that
> button, should I show an alert message saying something like "please choose
> a server in order to be able to use the app", but allow the navigation to
> the home screen?

I tried hard to make the app so that all the screens would redirect back to the Choose Server screen if the user had not already chosen a server.  This resulted in a few circular redirection bugs, but I thought we had squashed most of them.  If there's a better way, I'm all for it.

Choosing a server is absolutely required, though.  The app does not do anything without connecting to an Open311 api.
 

> Personally, I would choose to not show the "back" button if no server is
> chosen, and show some more information on that screen, because in some
> cases, that is actually the first screen of the app.
>
> Also, I have another question: why is the code in
> https://github.com/City-of-Bloomington/open311-mobile/blob/master/GeoReporter/GeoReporter/Controllers/HomeController.m#L50-L70in
> the viewWillAppear? Do we really need it executed every time that view
> is shown? Personally, I would move it to viewDidLoad. What do you think?
>

You're right, it makes more sense to only load services once per application launch, instead of every time we go back to the home screen.
 

> Thanks,
> Marius

[Rajul Bhatnagar]

How do you guys plan to optimize the app for the IPad??

Currently It uses the same interface for IPad right??

> Thanks,
> Marius

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Rajul Bhatnagar
Btech Computer Science & Engineering
VIT University Vellore

[Cliff Ingham]

We currently do not have any tablet optimizations. Neither on the
iPhone or on Android. We would like to have improvements for tablets,
though.

>>>> https://github.com/City-of-**Bloomington/open311-mobile/**
>>> blob/master/GeoReporter/**GeoReporter/Controllers/**
>>> HomeController.m#L50-L70in<https://github.com/City-of-Bloomington/open311-mobile/blob/master/GeoReporter/GeoReporter/Controllers/HomeController.m#L50-L70in>