Thanks Enrico, some really great analysis here of some complex problems! +robmac (UX) to get some of these ideas on his radar :)
*W I L S O N P A G E* Front-end Developer Firefox OS (Gaia) London Office Twitter: @wilsonpage IRC: wilsonpage On Thu, Nov 26, 2015 at 11:24 PM, Enrico Ghiorzi <[email protected]> wrote: > Il giorno giovedì 26 novembre 2015 15:11:02 UTC+1, Enrico Ghiorzi ha > scritto: > > I also have something it's puzzling me, but I can't manage to put my > finger on it. Much has been said about an Android-style back button: > there's even even an add-on to add that to the homebar. Let's call this a > 'navigation' back button, as it brings you to the structurally-previous > view inside an app. Then there is the 'history' back button implemented in > the browser. At last, there is the 'Ctrl-z-style' back button, as described > in > https://www.fastcodesign.com/3053406/how-apple-is-giving-design-a-bad-name > as a great feature Apple dismissed. Each OS has to implement (or dismiss) > these three kinds of back functions, which are somewhat similar but still > different. Is there a sensible way to implement this all in a structural > way? How this plays with FxOS and its agenda? I have no answer here, but > maybe some of you have. > > After some thought I may have wrapped my head around this, so I'll try to > articulate. Please bear with me if I say stupid/obvious things! > > I can think of four different kinds of "back/undo" action: > a) Navigation back button, which brings you to the structurally precedent > view inside an app. > a') History back button, as it works in browsers. > b) Return to the app you were using before the current one; or, in a > browser, return to the previous tab. > c) Undo last action, like "Ctrl-z" does on desktop. > I think an OS should provide all of this functions when needed, in a > structured and consistent way. > > First of all, observe that (a) and (a') coincide when the history back > button is the only way to navigate backwards inside an app. This is already > mostly done in FxOS: most apps use a back button on the left of the header > which looks exactly like browser's back button. The single apps are > responsible for using this back button consistently (and at present they > mostly do that, I think). > > Secondly, the (b) functionality in FxOS is provided by the App Manager and > the edge-swipe gesture (which, as others here noticed, has issues on its > own which should be addressed). > > We are left then with the (c) functionality, which seems to be completely > absent in FxOS. These are the use-cases I can think of: > - Restoring deleted objects (such as messages, e-mails, contacts, > pictures, videos, audio files, and apps) > - Restoring default settings > - Restoring deleted text > > I think most, if not all, of these scenarios could be subject to an ad-hoc > solution managed by the involved app: whenever you delete a picture, there > you have a "restore picture" button where the picture was before, and > analogously with messages, e-mails, contacts, videos, audio files, and > apps. Alternatively, a "trash bin" app could be implemented, storing > deleted objects and letting the user restore them. The Settings app could > have "Restore default settings" buttons where most needed, and so each app > in its own settings menu. Finally, a "Ctrl-z" key could be added to the > keyboard to restore deleted text. > > Long story short, I think that FxOS already implements most forms of > "back/undo" in a structured way, provided that the back button inside apps > is used consistently with the browser's "back in history" button. This > function could be assigned to an Android-style homebar back button, but I > see no particular benefit in that. > > App switching is an important form of navigation which should be improved > even further, solving the issues that have been reported. > > What is still missing is an error recovery, "Ctrl-z" style back button. > This can be done in different but equivalently useful ways. A beneficial > effect of that, other than indulgently letting the user recover from > mistakes, would be that "Are you sure you want to delete this" confirmation > screens would no longer be necessary, making interaction faster. > _______________________________________________ > dev-fxos mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-fxos >
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