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IDProjectCategoryView StatusLast Update
0012272MMAPlaylistspublic2022-06-20 23:42
Reporterrusty Assigned To 
PriorityurgentSeverityminorReproducibilityalways
Status closedResolutionfixed 
Product Version1.1.0 
Target Version2.0.0Fixed in Version2.0.0 
Summary0012272: Playlist workflow has extra unnecessary steps
Description1) When selecting a track and clicking 'Add to playlist', the user sees:

Add to playlist
----------------
playlist 1
playlist 2
...
----------------
Cancel|New|OK

If the user selects playlist 1, then the dialog collapses to:

Add to playlist
----------------
playlist 1
----------------
Cancel|New|OK

And the user has to find the new location of the 'OK' button and click it. It just seems like a needless-unnecessary step.


It would make more sense, if the dialog wouldn't collapse, and would just show the following UI:

Add to playlist
----------------
playlist 1
playlist 2
...
----------------
Cancel|New|OK

A further step could be eliminated by modifying the UI as follows, so that no click of an 'OK' button is needed:

Add to playlist
----------------
playlist 1
playlist 2
...
----------------
Cancel|New Playlist

2) Similarly, when creating a new playlist, the User clicks 'New' in the 'Add to Playlist' dialog, then enters the playlist name in the 'Create Playlist' dialog (which has a cancel button), and then the user is presented with yet a third dialog--another 'Add to Playlist' dialog where they can choose: Cancel, New, or OK.

This third dialog is unnecessary for the same reasons as the collapsed 'Add to playlist' dialog described above is. i.e. the same solution as is chosen for 1) should be used here.
TagsNo tags attached.
Fixed in build1005

Relationships

related to 0009245 closedmarek Workflow for adding tracks to playlists has redundant step. 
related to 0019201 closedmartin Add to Playlists: Doesn't support subplaylists 

Activities

marek

2014-10-31 11:27

developer   ~0040848

The reason why it is made this way is still the same like in 0009245 . We are using hierarchical playlists.

So it is impossible to remove the step, because it won't be possible to create hierarchical subplaylists.

But I agree that current implementation is not in intuitive at all.

I have already some ideas how to improve the layout:
1. First of all, it shouldn't be dialog. Dialogs should be removed. It is not necessary to have context and the dialog changes size on browsing which is quite annoying.

So it can be standard activity. Advantage is that the playlist hierarchy might be visible in new UI with Navigation Drawer

2. Creation of new playlists should not open new dialog but it can be create directly in the same activity.

Add to playlist [+] -> add new playlist
---------------------------------
playlist 1
playlist 2


---------------------------------
    Cancel | OK


Add to playlist [+]
---------------------------------
playlist 1
playlist 2

---------------------------------
[ place for typing new playlist ]
---------------------------------
Cancel | OK


3. When playlist is opened (redundant step You mentioned)
 - It might be possible to:
      - add new subplaylist
      - add tracks at the beginning
      - add tracks to the end

4. We can also add some small context icons to the list to add tracks directly. Something like:

Add to playlist [+]
---------------------------------
playlist 1 [<] - add directly to this playlist
playlist 2 [<]

---------------------------------
[ place for typing new playlist ]
---------------------------------
Cancel | OK


This whole concept needs a new better way of preloading tracks (before displaying in activity). Because current current way in dialogs is not working well. And I think it can be added in 1.1.1.

rusty

2014-10-31 20:39

administrator   ~0040854

Last edited: 2014-11-02 01:53

Following discussion with Marek re. removal of context dialog (i.e. changing 'Add to playlist' to a full-screen function), we decided that this probably doesn't make sense, since in most cases, 'Add to playlist' should really be a 1-second contextual action--not a full separate activity. But, if that's the only way to combine choosing a playlist and navigating to a deeper level of hierarchy into a single dialog, then we can use that approach.

Marek also pointed out that the dialog should comprise all of the following in order to adhere to Android design guidelines:
1) choosing a playlist
2) creating a New Playlist (in some cases)
3) navigating to a deeper level of hierarchy--this is the only item that is of much complexity.
4) preloading of tracks that should be added
5) work after clicking ok

Also, the primary use of the UI is for users to quickly assign tracks to playlists that already exist and/or that have recently been used. The requirement to navigate hierarchy, and to create new playlists at different levels of the hierarchy is secondary.

Another issue that should be addressed is the 'New' playlist button is currently a bit confusing in the sense that for the root Playlist, 'New' creates a child playlist _within_ the root playlist, whereas for other playlists a child is created for the _selected_ playlist (rather than within the selected playlist), so it's unclear exactly where in the hierarchy the playlist will be created.

It should be noted that the complexity/awkwardness of any UI stems from the fact that Playlists can be either a filetype, a container for other playlists, or both. This type of object doesn't occur in other applications, and it might be worth considering eliminating this for MM5.

With the above in mind, I would propose the following:

-------------------
Add to playlist
-------------------
[New Playlist]
- - - - - - - - - -
Recent
. playlist X
. playlist Y
. playlist Z
- - - - - - - - - -
» playlist 1
» playlist 2
» playlist 3 >
...
-------------------
Cancel
-------------------

Explanation:
- Recent: shows the 3 playlists to which tracks were most recently added in MMA
- The '»' navigates to the next level of the hierarchy. We'd originally discussed expanding hierarchy by clicking the Playlist Name, and using a button/radio buttons + OK button to select the playlist. Upon further thought, and on considering the relative priority of being able to quickly add tracks to existing playlists, I believe that this alternative better meets user needs.
- The '>' indicates that child playlists exist deeper within the hierarchy, using the same icon/format is in the auto-sync dialog.
- 'New Playlist' creates a playlist within the current playlist. 'New Playlist' isn't in the command bar for reasons described below.

Usage:

- To Add a track to a playlist, just click the playlist text or icon. There's no need to press 'OK'.

- Pressing '»' next to playlist 1, results in the following:
-------------------
Add to playlist: playlist 1
-------------------
[New Playlist]
- - - - - - - - - -
-------------------
Cancel
-------------------

- Pressing '»' next to playlist 3, results in the following:
-------------------
> Add to playlist: playlist 3
-------------------
[New Playlist]
- - - - - - - - - -
» playlist 3-1
» playlist 3-2 >
-------------------
Cancel
-------------------

- To create a new playlist, the user clicks 'New Playlist', and the text becomes editable. Pressing <Enter> finalizes the name, at which point the user can Click it to add a track to it OR expand it to add a child. Note that the reason why 'New' doesn't appear in the bottom command line is to avoid an empty dialog upon expanding a playlist with no children. i.e. we want to avoid the following:

-------------------
Add to playlist
-------------------

-------------------
Cancel | New
-------------------

EDIT: For an example of a similar tree implementation see the Android Feedly app. Feedly categories are treated similarly to parent playlists, and Feedly feeds are treated similarly to child playlists.

Let me know what you think.

rusty

2015-01-12 22:11

administrator   ~0041661

Pushed.

martin

2020-02-29 13:31

developer   ~0056942

Fixed in build 2.0.1005

peke

2022-06-20 23:41

developer   ~0068630

Verified 1019