Re: [kde-artists] please turn off label animations...

Hugo Pereira Da Costa wrote:
> - Tab animations are off by default because this is the only animation
> that can alter large fractions of the screen, and thus stress low
> performance systems too much. As far as I know this is not the case for
> labels, hover effects, etc.
>
> - as Nuno mentioned, I don't think label animations alter the display in
> any way that prevent the user to interact with it. If such circumstances
> exist, they should obviously be fixed. Now, yes, this makes label text
> change non instantaneous (which was the original plan).

This /does/ alter the user interaction experience, by delaying the 
display of information. (As an extreme example, try playing a real-time 
video game with a frame delay in effect.) In some cases that may be 
okay. In others it is not. Since this will (I presume) affect Qt-only 
applications as well, I don't think a reactive strategy (disable where 
problematic) is desirable.

> - On the possibility of enabling the animation on a per widget basis, I
> am not sure I get the point. If this is:
> a/ animate some labels and some not, this is not possible without
> modifying applications.

Right. Which is why IMO it should be off by default and opt-in; opt-out 
makes it harder to not have it in the way.

> b/ have three options of "animations" (all kinds), like All; Some (=
> e.g. all and not label, and not tabs); None; this is doable. But one
> will never make every one happy. Some will want labels but not tabs,
> some tabs, but not label, etc. Who decides that ?

That's not what I meant. I meant it rather w.r.t. opt-out/opt-in; "some" 
would enable animations only when the app requests them for a widget, 
"all" would enable them regardless, and "none" would disable them even 
if requested. (That assumes opt-in, of course.)

> In the meanwhile I would rather keep the label on (and I understand Nuno
> agrees), and fix places where it is broken (since you mention it in your
> original email, don't hesitate to forward such cases. I'd be happy to
> fix, since this is obviously not acceptable).

IMHO it is annoying /everywhere/. (It's especially egregious in 
ksysguard, though.)

> Finally:
> Label text change needing to be instantaneous also applies (with the
> same arguments) to hover, focus, etc, in my opinion.

I disagree. Hover/focus effects are useful, but not critical 
information. The system is usable without them, especially as the user 
can anticipate them. I *cannot* anticipate the next value of an 
important reading, or how quickly the machine will react to an action I 
take. Label animations slow these down and consequently disrupt my 
workflow. (And, frankly, a label change is a lot more distracting than a 
hover effect.)

Actually I would argue that focus change should not be animated for the 
same reason (at least not fade-in; fade-out is marginally more okay).

> So that turning off
> all animations at once because they make the system feels slower does
> not sound so crazy to me. (In other words: I don't understand why label
> transitions should be "more" instantaneous than hover, or focus effects).

I think you are convincing me that /all/ animation should be off by default.

-- 
Matthew
Please do not quote my e-mail address unobfuscated in message bodies.
-- 
"It's not easy for [Microsoft] to accept [competing fairly]"
   -- Dave Heiner (a Microsoft VP, paraphrased)
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