[imp] Attachment interface confusing to users

[Edward Glowacki]

On Fri, 2002-06-21 at 11:16, Chuck Hagenbuch wrote:
> We used to do this; it takes up an awful lot of screen real estate.

After some more pondering about screen real estate, I started
experimenting with the layout of the compose screen using a static HTML
page ripped from imp.  The original goal was to figure out if I could
safely remove the "attachments" button and some of the other things on
the screen that I wasn't sure needed to be there, but I ended up messing
with almost every part of the screen.

All of the designs get rid of the top command buttons (send, save draft,
cancel), as they are redundant with the ones at the bottom, and the
bottom ones seem to fit the work flow better (you don't send until
you've already done the headers and the body...).  Also, I'm not sure if
it's just my browser (Galeon 1.2.3), but none of the help ?'s actually
go all the way to the entry in the help that they seem to be positioned
for, they just go to the help index, so I got rid of them all for now
and replced them with a single "show help" button to reduce general
screen clutter.  Anyways, here's the evolution as I changed things here
and there:

Save some vertical space by moving some commands horizontally next to
their respective areas:

http://hurakan.cl.msu.edu/~glowack2/test/imp/imp-compose-screen.html

Instead of saving space, just move the commands vertically so they are
near their respective areas of the screen:

http://hurakan.cl.msu.edu/~glowack2/test/imp/imp-compose-screen-2.html

A further refinement of the various ideas, a bit cleaner.  To/cc/bcc
labels changed to buttons which would pop-up the address book
(eliminating the need for a separate address book link), expand names
command gone (not sure how to fit it in or how important it really is):

http://hurakan.cl.msu.edu/~glowack2/test/imp/imp-compose-screen-3.html


I'll leave these up for a week or two, but eventually those pages will
disappear. =) 
-- 
Edward Glowacki             glowack2@msu.edu

"A wise craftsman never blames his tools."