GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 606235
Need a better audio/video icon in the contact list
Last modified: 2018-05-22 13:57:00 UTC
Since we fixed bug #590051, clicking on the audio/video icon in the contact list opens a context menu which can be used to start an audio or audio/video call. This icon is currently either the "microphone" or "webcam" icon depending if the contact supports video or not. It's not really clear that this icon is clickable (the avatar is not for example). It would be good to have a better icon giving some hint to the user.
It would be simpler if those two options were removed from the buddy list and used as buttons [would help keep the list clean] It could rather be just two buttons at the bottom of the list which activate when the buddy is selected. Which would also solve the problem of those options being too easy to accidentally select.
Created attachment 151046 [details] Possible new buttons Here's a mockup of chat/call/video buttons that are obviously buttons. They are visible only for the selected buddy, and the call/video buttons are always presented but sensitive if and only if the selected contact has call/video capability. I like this approach because it's easy to understand and discover; these are obviously buttons, and the user is more likely to understand that clicking the button labeled "call" will initiate a call than clicking on a microphone icon. If I were a bit more talented at making hi-fi mockups, I would make the chat/call/video buttons a bit tighter. Of course, buttons without labels that use simple icons instead may also work well.
I don't like this approach. The contact list is already using too much space so adding these extra button won't help (and it's pretty ugly). I do think the current UI is good; we "just" need a better icon for the audio/video column.
I like this idea: <wjt> make a border appear around the icon when you hover over that treeview row? <wjt> i think having the menu be an icon for the most interesting thing you can do, and then growing a border and a little arrow when you hover over the treeview row, might work
I think the current placement of the icons is rather unsightly, and it would look a lot better to remove them from the list. I don't think they need to be visible for every contact simultaneously since the user does not need that information until they want to communicate with the user, at which point clicking on the contact will reveal the available options, as per the mockup in comment #2.
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