My favorite by far is ALEC's http://detached.gigo.com/rc/yd/F3Do0grg/compose-full2.png for the following reasons:
The headers above the body, means people know how to use it without even thinking, there is no need to scan the page to understand a different format. It also jives with how we expect to read a message we receive, with the headers above the message body.
I love the 'gear' in the lower left corner which hides options that are not often changed, providing a simpler, less cluttered UI. While it's clear to me that a 'gear' icon is where one could go select options, most of my users would be befuddled, I think a text label of 'options' or the like would be necessary.
*Text labels of Send Now / Cancel are a welcome addition. Several users are confused thinking the green arrow means send. Small text labels below all the icons would be a great addition. It is clear to me what they mean but I regularly have users who don't know the red circle with a line through it means delete etc.
I also think tweaking it slightly to use Phi's version of attachments http://detached.gigo.com/rc/JX/meswyk1/rc_compose.jpg is more visually appealing since most messages don't have attachments, and so it's fitting that the attachments area is small and subtle.
ALEC's compose-full2.png is a design that makes good use of space, that my users will immediately be comfortable with. This makes me happy.
--ryan
On Jun 25, 2010, at 12:27 PM, Phil Weir wrote:
Attached is my idea. It's a mixture of one of the ones from Alec and from Marcus. Here are the key points:
*) Full width editor *) I used the current way of displaying attachments because I think have a box with the grey bar at the bottom makes the element to "strong" my eye is drawn to it and it doesn't seem right. *) Send/Cancel buttons in the bottom left because that's where they are everywhere else in RC and "integrated" into the grey bar *) I haven't put a folder is because I am worried the user will find it confusing, are they supposed to click on the folders in the list? If they do will it save the sent message there rather than in the default location? Would it open the folder, and kill the message being composed?
Thanks,
Phil
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