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Thunderbird 115

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Re: Thunderbird 115

#251

Post by no_time »

diarrhea wrote: post #57

Putting the search bar front-and-center in both the application and this announcement, I hope the backend implementation is now able to keep up? The one use case I switch to my mail provider's webmail UI for is search. I mentally sigh a little bit each time I realise I have to search through my email. Thunderbird's search has been among the worst I have ever come across, sadly. Functional search would be a killer fea…

As a relatively new TB user, I thought it was me who was "holding it wrong" lol. Searching for my employer's name and it only returning my career portal applications but not actually their emails (that were from their domain, with their name appearing atleast twice in text) was baffling.

I'm very hopeful about this new version. I can already see one of my U/X gripes fixed in the screenshot.

Re: Thunderbird 115

#252

Post by ubermonkey »

globular-toast wrote: post #113
danpalmer wrote: post #92

I can't believe how janky this still looks after a UI overhaul. Text is misaligned in lots of places, the icons are fuzzy, spacing and padding is inconsistent even within the same areas, there are 3 sets of 3-dot icons in the sidebar in two different axes. It's just careless. Most users don't care about the alignment and spacing and so on in isolation, but they do get a sense of quality from the overall impact. This…

Good software doesn't need to look good, though. Looking good is just a bonus. I don't care in the slightest how it looks because it's still better than the alternatives.

That's a bananas take. A good thing should be executed well on all fronts. Software that looks like garbage is unpleasant to use for most people.

Tbird's ongoing lack of polish is a huge chunk of why I don't use it.

Re: Thunderbird 115

#253

Post by PopAlongKid »

pmontra wrote: post #87
jraph wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Calendar in the mail client is very useful since invitations are sent by mail. You click accept, the recipient knows you did and the event is added to your calendar. But indeed if you don't use it it does not get in the way, which is perfect.

I read mail first on my phone with K9 (the old UI) a few times per day and accept invitations there to put them on my phone, which is always with me. Then I download mail with Thunderbird a few times per week. I use my domain providers POP3 servers. Yes, they bundle a mailbox with each domain. It's also IMAP and webmail but POP3 is better for my use case.

> POP3 is better for my use case.

Same here. I want to "receive" each message exactly once, not have it synced automatically all over the place. I only handle my email from either my desktop computer or my laptop, with a simple script to copy it all back and forth whenever I switch the device I am using.

I was on call for my jobs for decades and never had any problems with this method, however it was before smartphones became common. I do not handle email on my smartphone, ever.

Re: Thunderbird 115

#254

Post by Night_Thastus »

I've been watching some of the behind-the-scenes videos they've put out lately about design decisions and areas of improvement. Pretty interesting stuff. UI design is not easy when you have such an old product and so many different types of users.

Once they pointed out some features I had no idea existed (like the unified view for mailboxes) my experience was notably better.

Re: Thunderbird 115

#255

Post by Macha »

bjord wrote: post #198
chinathrow wrote: post #158

JFC, the first image makes me turn mad. The UI was just fine, leave it alone. Long term (25y) of Mozilla Mail/Thunderbird user here.

Are you aware that you're in the minority?

Of email users? Or or thunderbird users?

I don't think looking for a majority of email users is worthwhile, as the majority of email users are not going to use anything other than the webmail from their provider, and maybe the one built the in to their device.

As for thunderbird users, I'm not so sure. It seems those who feel they'd use thunderbird if the UI was different in this thread still seem to be unsatisfied by these changes, while those who like the UI the way it is are asking for the new UI to be optional

Re: Thunderbird 115

#256

Post by joelcipriano »

kristofferR wrote: post #109
danpalmer wrote: post #92

I can't believe how janky this still looks after a UI overhaul. Text is misaligned in lots of places, the icons are fuzzy, spacing and padding is inconsistent even within the same areas, there are 3 sets of 3-dot icons in the sidebar in two different axes. It's just careless. Most users don't care about the alignment and spacing and so on in isolation, but they do get a sense of quality from the overall impact. This…

Agree. The differences between the mock-up [1] and the finished version [2] are both quite small, yet make a massive difference in the perceived quality. [1] https://2165533704-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-p... [2] https://www.thunderbird.net/media/img/thunderbird/whatsnew/1... The search bar looks good in the mock-up, but bad in the final version due to not being centered, despite being really similar.

Quite small??? They're huge!

Re: Thunderbird 115

#257

Post by thworp »

asdajksah2123 wrote: post #134
andix wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good software also looks good. Looking good can't make up for bad functionality. that's true. But good UX design is an important part of software.

Misaligned lines are not bad UX. They are bad design/UI, but misaligned dots have no impact on the UX.

They certainly are bad UX, proper alignment and consistent spacing helps immensely in visual recognition and flow.

Re: Thunderbird 115

#258

Post by andix »

Keegs wrote: post #246
andix wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Information density can be very overwhelming and a factor for stress. Often a lower density is totally enough and less stressful to use. Providing an optional "compact mode" for people with smaller screens or who prefer denser layouts would be my way to go.

I’m interested to know where this idea comes from. Is there a good reference you recommend? My anecdotal experience has been that low density websites like Medium are more stressful than higher density websites like Substack/HN because I have to do more work to read the text on the page.

I don’t know. Not an UX expert. But I think the key is the right amount of information. Too much and not enough is both equally bad.

But we have much bigger screens than many years ago when thunderbird was initially designed.

Laptop screens stayed mostly the same sizes, so it makes sense to adjust density to the device type you are using or the window size. This is already done for smartphones, mobile websites usually have much smaller paddings. Same is usually done for iOS vs iPad apps.

Re: Thunderbird 115

#259

Post by danjoredd »

I like it! Definitely looks better than it did. I can see some more work needing to be done, but this is definitely a huge step in the right direction.

Re: Thunderbird 115

#260

Post by andix »

precompute wrote: post #190
andix wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Information density can be very overwhelming and a factor for stress. Often a lower density is totally enough and less stressful to use. Providing an optional "compact mode" for people with smaller screens or who prefer denser layouts would be my way to go.

> Information density can be very overwhelming and a factor for stress. Really? And what about tiny scrollbars?

Since we have mouse wheels and touch screens scroll bars transformed mostly away from interactive UI components to scroll position indicators. Good components dynamically get bigger when you hover over them with your mouse or long press they on a touch screen.
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