CaptainSpam
UI suggestion: graticule and date buttons on main toolbar
There used to be a "graticule" button on the main toolbar, and I think maybe a date one as well. A recent change has hidden these under the "..." menu, and placed "wiki" and "details" on the main toolbar.
IMHO it was much better before the change.
I very frequently use the "graticule" button, and change dates. Basically each time I open the app, I'm looking at possible geohashes in the different graticules near me - particularly since I live on the border of two. It's much less convenient to have to go into the "..." menu each time to get to what is to me the most commonly used function.
Meanwhile, the "details" button doesn't need to be there, since you can get there simply by tapping the coordinates.
I also never use the "wiki" button, but I understand that others do.
My suggestion for the main toolbar would be:
- Previous day (maybe "<")
- Next day (maybe ">")
- Graticule
- Wiki
- ...
Honestly, what about a customizable main toolbar? I'm starting to think maybe that might be a better bet here. I went with the toolbar it has now in an effort to reduce the amount of always-visible buttons (for clutter reasons), but I can see how my choices might not be the most ideal.
I'll give it more thought once I've got the chance; that might be a curious addition.
It's up to you obviously, but IMHO, a customizable toolbar is overkill (and not really a user-friendly option), and I think my proposed solution serves the most common use cases better. I don't see "clutter" as a big concern for an app like this, with a dedicated user base repeating the same actions frequently.
A compromise might be a collapsible main toolbar. Put all the buttons on there, and if it's too much clutter for people, they can hide it.
It might be interesting to consider two distinct modes of using the app:
- Going on an expedition to a specific geohash. Here I mainly use the distance overlay, Send to Maps (for routing), Wiki, and sometimes Details. I don't want to change graticule or date in the meantime.
- Browsing different geohashes. Here I want to easily change graticule and date, while occasionally "previewing the expedition" by checking Send to Maps (for feasible transportation options) or Wiki (to see if anyone else already shared plans). But I don't care about the exact distance or coordinates.
The Graticule menu item currently opens a view that serves the browsing case better, except that it lacks the easy "next day" option and is the secondary view of the app.
What if graticule-selection was the initial view and had better date navigation such as previous/next day arrows? Then from the geohash view (which would no longer need date navigation features), you could access the graticule-selection view via the back button and a back arrow, rather than the Graticule menu item. I suppose if you're stuck in the middle of a graticule (as I used to be) selecting a graticule might feel like an unnecessary step - there could be a setting to still launch on the geohash view for your current location/date, after which you'd have to use the back arrow to browse.
I forgot that there's already a setting for the startup view. I'm going to try using "Start with the graticule picker" for a while; @stevage maybe this would also be better for you?
I still suspect easy date navigation belongs best in the graticule picker, and agree with the original suggestion of one-tap navigation from geohash to graticule picker (I suggested a back arrow to indicate a hierarchy).
Hmm... I didn't actually consider changing the date navigation in the graticule picker. I'm mostly trying to avoid situations where there's tons and tons of menu options up-front, but improving date navigation there might be a good idea, yeah. And yeah, the ability to go directly to the graticule picker with one tap is probably a good idea overall.
I guess another slight issue with the current design is that there's no separation from the "view current selected graticule" mode and "actively on an expedition". That is, if you're not in the graticule picker, you're just kinda... going. Maybe that's why I'm getting hung up on some of this, the current design overloads a lot on the "main" view that it probably shouldn't. Though I'm not quite sure what I'd do about that, in particular.
The "main" view does indeed seem to be handling a lot. My thinking was that it could transfer some responsibilities (date navigation) to the graticule picker, becoming more "view current selected geohash" than "view current selected graticule", and then focus on expedition features.