Hi Iiker
I think that this is a great tool for those of us that do not have the time to be tinkering with software anymore
That being said, I feel it will be beneficial to see some changes on the UI with the goal of improving the user experience:
- A Saillogger user should not be required to create a 2nd account just to have access to the forum
- I live in Hong Kong, yet my computer settings are all in English, nonetheless, every time I open one of the pages, I get a prompt to translate to English. It would be good if the page could read the default language setting from the computer
- In addition to the automatic recording of the logs and constant monitoring of the boat, the timelapse feature connects with the Social Media community, as it allows to post the videos of your travels in real-time. That being said:
- The timelapse window is not intuitive, as you click on it, suddenly is playing something. But it is not obvious how to select what to play. Thus, I would suggest merging this window with the customization and export options. Providing a single user-friendly experience. Either a small section on the left or right where the user can select all the different options (in addition to the ones you already have):
- Boat icon selection, e.g.: Sailboat, motor boat, jetski, dinghy, etc., and side of the same
- Replay speed and size modified to a slider control, like the one on the computer mouse
- Adding photos of points of interest or icons along the timelapse track (this might not be easy, but it would differentiate your app from the competitors)
- In addition to the GPX files, which are very useful, most users will be interested on posting the videos directly in different platforms, e.g.: Instagram, thus, you need to consider adding the feature to export to the phone gallery or computer
- Looking at the monitoring page:
- the look & feel is dated, not really appealing. I would suggest updating the color scheme. Also, might be a 'nice to have' being able to select the background and color schemes per user
- When loading the page, it does not auto fit into one screen, we need to scroll up and down, while there is plenty of wasted space around the map. I would consider having a row or column with all the parameters under monitoring on top of the map as a single row, or left/right.
- Consider what other information would be good to have from a user perspective, e.g.: I would like to see the GPS coordinates.
- There are 1000s of users in scope, as you can target those with Victron equipment, therefore, it would be interesting to be able to select from the Victron GX or Pi what feeds to send and then in your UI, to be able to select those to display
- The maintenance page is super interesting, as we often forget what to do when, or what we did. Yet, I would suggest, like in the timelapse page, to have a frame on the right side with the different options, instead of having to go to the top menu to change the page back and forth. You can also enrich the prompts, e.g.: in the categories tab, the user can add additional ones, yet, this is not intuitive, why not adding a message saying so? From a user experience point of view, I don't want to have to click in 20 pages to get the same action done.
Hope this comments help, I truly think that the application has great potential, just some tweaking would help opening to a wider audience.
I have shown it to some of my boating mates in HK, and they like the idea, but I don't think that they would subscribe as is.
I have always thought that look & feel is 90% of the value of the application, it does not matter what great features we build, if the user does not find it easy to use, it will not be well received. Take the analogy of having dinner, 1st impressions matter, if the food is not appealing through your eyes, regardless of how good it tastes, you will not fully enjoy the experience.
Cheers
Andres
SV Karma
