Thread: So what in your oppinion makes a great skin

Originally Posted by Scorpnstail

yes, I know there have been some previous posts on this subject in the past but lets put together some information and design ideas to assist current and future developers with design and implementation ideas though our personal experience with our computers.

Here it goes:

(I will use Brushed Metal as an example a lot because I've used it a lot.)

1) Asthetics are secondary. I want a skin to look nice in the Brushed Metal kind of way. No pixellated icons, no ugly flashy fonts that are hard to read. Clean is the word I usually like to use. MediaEngine skins are notoriously guilty of just looking like crap.

2) CONSISTENCY.
a. Size/Shape consistency: I could not fsking believe it when I was listening to a song using Brush Metal, clicked on from Player to Browser and the Play/Rew/FF icon area actually shifted. The sizes were completely different. This just can't be.

b. Functional consistency. One nice feature of Drivesoft is that no matter what "screen" you're on you can click on a button without looking because its the same as the other screens. Up/Down/Back, Main Menu, as well as Play/FF/REW are all in the exact same spots. While you can always get used to something inconsistent, in a vehicle I don't want my brain to have to do any work.

3) Intuitiveness. Is that a word? The way I see it, if my girlfriend can't figure out how to choose a song and then get to the GPS navigation, its too complicated. This is completely the fault of skinners because all the major FEs are flexible enough to be that easy to use if properly skinned. This means using descriptive icons that immediately tell your brain what they do. It also means you shouldn't have to explain to anyone "Oh, yeah, to get back you have to click here, and then here, and then here." HUH! Once again, MediaEngine is notorious for this. I still have to look at the buttons and think about which is which.

4) Simplicity. I can't understand why most of the front-ends are using separate screens for browsing music and playing. To me this is so obvious that it should be on the same screen. Also, if its to have the ability to make playlists, how many people actually create playlists in the car? I don't, and I would much rather be able to browse music without leaving the playing screen.

5) Brightness. I think we really need to keep brightness in mind. The darker skins just don't work in the daylight where an even slightly brighter skin is 100% more readable in the daylight.

Unfortunately, these consistent faults are what make me almost completely unhappy with any of the front-ends. And its not the FE authors fault, its the skinners. Yes I know I should put my money where my mouth is, but if you're not artistic you're just not, and well I'm not.

I prefer skins to match my car. EG Alpine

This is how ideal skin should look like, IMHO. With one exception - bigger buttons and less details so its usable on 7" screens.

This is really good information on what FE users actually want.

It is good to hear that most everyone wants usability over looks

lets keep this going as I am sure quite a few skinners will benifit from this.

Originally Posted by ddn

5) Brightness. I think we really need to keep brightness in mind. The darker skins just don't work in the daylight where an even slightly brighter skin is 100% more readable in the daylight.

Has anyone tried a skin with a white background before? and if so was this enough or would you knock the color more down more to a light grey for when glare/sun is a issue?



So far the majority whom have posted is calling for less clutter, bigger buttons and simplicity.