Re: [kidsUI] Alfredo's idea

[Doug Loss <dloss@suscom.net>]

Alfredo Kengi Kojima wrote:

> I liked the idea of the storybook creator and started
> thinking about a prototype.  [...]  So, instead of using an already existing
>
> program, I'd like to suggest the use of a rapid prototyping
> environment, such as Tcl/Tk. The language is not very
> good for writing real applications, but is easy to
> use and ideal for our case, where we will need to be
> constantly modifying the interface.
>

That seems fine with me.

>
> I have tried to make things as simple and readily accessible
> as I could:
> - the "canvas", which corresponds to a page of the story
> book is always fully visible, with no scrollbars or possibility
> of zooming;

That's important, I think.  We want the whole workspace visible at all times.

>
> - the text area is the white rectangle in the canvas. It would
> always have the "input focus", so that you dont need to
> first click on it to be able to type, as is common with
> most applications. I think it shouldnt be scrollable too;

I agree about the scrolling. As to the focus, is it possible to make all
keyboard input go there automatically but keep the cursor (mouse pointer)
focus in the image area?

>
> - the scrollable area on the top of the canvas is where the
> pages of the book will be stored. Each page that has been
> drawn is stored there. To switch to another page you click
> in the desired one (a scaled down image of each page should
> be drawn on each of those squares representing the pages)
> There is always a blank, white page at the end of the list,
> so, to create a new page you just click there.

I think the blank page should show as such, not just as an empty spot in that
area.  I think that's what you mean, but I wanted to be sure.


> It would
> be also good to show an animation of current drawing/page
> shrink and go to the small representations and the new
> page grow and take place of the canvas area when you switch
> pages, to visually show what's happening.

This would be a visual representation of "getting a page out" and of "putting
it away."  If it's not too difficult to do, it sounds nice.


> Im not sure, but
> maybe it would be good to remove the scrollbar from the
> page list, as it could be a bit confusing, but it would
> limit the number of pages possible (dont know if thats
> an important limitation). There also could be other ways
> of representing pages that dont fit there...

When we think about those other ways, let's try to make sure they're general
ways of indicating that there's more information available than what can
currently be seen.  Could we do something like a frame around that section
that resembles the edges of a book, so you can see extra pages on the right
and left?  You could click on those edges to turn the pages.  That might be
easier for a child to understand than the concept of a scroll bar, although it
might require too much dexterity to use to be the best idea.

>
> - all tools for drawing (brush, fill and eraser) are
> in the top/left corner. I put text there, but in
> a working version they would be pretty graphical icons
> (with a small text in the bottom of the button too, maybe).
> I dont know about what tools would be nice to have.

For that we can take a look at programs of this type on other systems.  We
don't have to do this without reference to prior art :-).

>
> - the box below the toolbox would have a few color
> crayons/paint brushes or whatever (maybe depending on
> the selected tool) where you would choose the paint color.
> I know children love having many colors, so maybe it
> could be enlarged :) Perhaps a little label in the bottom
> of that box, showing the name of the selected color
> would be nice too.

See my last comment.

>
> - the box below the crayonbox would have some image-stamps.
> They would work as another tool, you click there and
> whenever you click on the canvas, it will 'print' the
> selected image. The button labeled "stamp box" would
> open a window with many more images. I think it could
> give a selection of stamp-sets, where the whole group
> of image-buttons would be replaced with the ones in
> the chosen stamp-set.

This is also how I was thinking.  We should also have a button for backgrounds
analogous to the one for stamp box, that would allow the child to pick from
background images.

>
> - gray box at the right of the list of books is for administrative
> tasks, or creating new storybooks and loading old books. Saving
> would be performed automatically, whenever you load a new
> book or quit the application. Whenever you create a new book,
> it asks for a name of the story you will start. They would also
> have graphical icons, instead of (or in addition to) text.

We should also have it offer a choice of icons for the story, so that when the
child wants to reload it he or she can see both the icon and the text.

>
> The load dialog would show a simplified list of the stories
> by name and have a box with a preview area, showing a quick
> view of the contents of the story book. No directories, paths
> or anything.. Maybe a way to throw away a book would be good
> there. I'll try to make a mockup of this dialog later.
>

The load button could have a bookcase icon.  When you click on it, the "shelf"
opens up and you can pick the book you want to work on.  The standard trashcan
could work to delete a book, so long as things could be recovered from it
(standard mark-for-deletion and purge behavior).  Perhaps we could limit
throwing books away to drag and drop from the shelf to the trashcan.  Then a
child would have to go to the bookcase, open the shelf, and get the book
before throwing it away.  This could limit inadvertent deletions, and would
have a relation to the physical actions that would accomplish the same thing
in the real world.

>
> Open questions:
> - undo? Thats an important feature in usual applications, but I
> dont know how could that be presented in our case or even if
> we should have it.

Kid Pix has a button with a face looking horrified, that makes an "uhoh" sound
when pressed.  I guess it's intent is to say, "press this when you did
something wrong."

--
Doug Loss                 Even if you're on the right track,
Data Network Coordinator  you'll get run over if you just
Bloomsburg University     sit there.
dloss@bloomu.edu                Will Rogers