The current Jangouts UI is limiting us when thinking about adding new features. Some examples:
- This (using the whole thumbnail to pin a participant) was implemented, but the result is far from optimal (I have not even deployed it in production).
- The underlying part of this (participant name change) were also implemented, but we were not able to find a way to make it fit in the current UI.
- If somebody decides to implement this (per-user volume), they will have the same problem.
- I also have in mind a "local mute" feature, but once again I wouldn't know where to place that button.
Moreover, there are some usability problems we keep hitting all the time:
- The button to mute yourself can move if somebody else than you enters the room.
- The name of the room is not displayed.
Last but not least, the current UI kind of works in mobile devices, but it's not 100% mobile friendly (buttons are too small and it relies too much in hover buttons).
I already have other projects for this Hackweek, so I'm not sure how much time I will have to work on this. But if some javascript or UX expert wants to jump in, I will help as much as possible.
Final result
Cynthia already did some visual modifications (available only in her fork for the time being). She is also working in some mock-ups more oriented to functionality and UX. Stay tuned.
Ancor did progresses in the Angular2 porting and improved the unit tests there. He also updated the janus-gateway packages in OBS and renewed the Let's Encrypt's certificate for jangouts.tk. Last but not least, he debugged some connection problems with Firefox 38.4.0 (included in non-updated SLED12-SP1). The problem should be fixed now.
Looking for hackers with the skills:
This project is part of:
Hack Week 14
Activity
Comments
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over 8 years ago by ancorgs | Reply
As a first step, I'm taking a closer look to our experimental Angular2 version (GSoC) since I want to develop the new UI on top of that.
I'm finding it to be quite daunting for a beginner (a lot of warnings due to the WIP, some lack of documentation...). I'll try to fix that first.
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over 8 years ago by ancorgs | Reply
Still working in improving the Angular2 branch, specially improving the tests and the developer's experience. Learning a lot about typescript and jasmine in the process.
Cynthia is working in some mock ups for the interface. Most likely we will not be able to implement them as part of this Hack Week, but at least we will end up in a good position to do it in the future (with test cases for the existing code, at least).
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over 8 years ago by ancorgs | Reply
Cynthia is already modifying the look&feel (she even created a motto!). Everything looking nicer so far. We were also discussing some stuff more related to the user experience than to the look&feel. She is working on some mock-ups on how to fix it.
Meantime, I'm using this project as an excuse to do jangouts-related pending stuff, like learning Angular2 and typescript. Helping our GSoC student to create meaningful and DRY unit tests, trying to reproduce some problems reported by a SLED12 user with an old Firefox, updating the janus package and so on.
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