Avast WEBforum
Consumer Products => Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security (legacy Pro Antivirus, Internet Security, Premier) => Topic started by: rdsu on March 02, 2005, 07:49:32 PM
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Hi,
The developers team of avast! are thinking to improve the GUI of avast! for the next version or some newer version?
Thanks
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What do you mean? We have skin and skinless, we have the Enhanced User Interface...
Do you mean the GUI enabling more settings? ::)
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I've installed the avast! in some of my friends computers and they think that avast! isn't easy to use...
Maybe because they are accustomed with another AV's, like Norton, McAfee, etc...
I've the same opinion. The avast! is very configurable but the GUI should be more unified, instead of are separated by another sections...
Why not, when we double click on the avast! tray icon, appears the actual settings more the things that are on when we click in "Start avast! Antivirus"? I think that this way will be much more easy to use and control the avast!...
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As you know... this was discussed a lot...
I can't imagine why Alwil did not implement such wishes...
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As you know... this was discussed a lot...
I can't imagine why Alwil did not implement such wishes...
Maybe because some people (like me), like it the way it is ;)
--lee
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I already have post some times about this, but I think that this should be discussed with more attention...
I like avast! a lot, but the GUI is definitely not good, and I think that a lot of users have the same opinion!
It seems that the avast! team will improve the detection rate in the next version and will be very nice if they make a new GUI too for the v5.0 :)
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I like avast! a lot, but the GUI is definitely not good
I did not say (or think like) that...
The GUI is very good in my opinion but, like any other thing, could be improved ;)
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I like avast! a lot, but the GUI is definitely not good
I did not say (or think like) that...
The GUI is very good in my opinion but, like any other thing, could be improved ;)
OK, are good but not very good or excellent :P
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Maybe an option should be given when installing then, if people are really that botherd about it, so they can either use the interface they have now, or a newer one of avast teams design ;)
That way, everyones happy
--lee
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Maybe an option should be given when installing then, if people are really that botherd about it, so they can either use the interface they have now, or a newer one of avast teams design ;)
That way, everyones happy
--lee
Could be a solution :)
But the size of the installer maybe will grow :(
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I would like to say that as a relatively new Avast user ( just a few months) that I wish the interface were more friendly. I don't like having to deal with the different interfaces within the product. I'd like to see a single integrated interface.
Along those lines, the options shown when you right-click on the Avast icon are confusing and need to be changed a little bit to make them more accurate.
I'm a former NAV user, and I feel that Avast is a better solution but NAV is easier to use and understand.
John
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I've installed the avast! in some of my friends computers and they think that avast! isn't easy to use...
Maybe because they are accustomed with another AV's, like Norton, McAfee, etc...
I've the same opinion. The avast! is very configurable but the GUI should be more unified, instead of are separated by another sections...
Why not, when we double click on the avast! tray icon, appears the actual settings more the things that are on when we click in "Start avast! Antivirus"? I think that this way will be much more easy to use and control the avast!...
To counter this, I simply created a different shortcut on my toolbar (you can do the same on your desktop). One to start the "on-demand" antivirus or "skin part of Avast" directly. Problem solved. Anyway, you can get to all parts of the software from there, except for maybe the VRDB options, who needs to be configured once every blue moon. 8)
Believe me, before I decided to go with Avast, I tried every single other antivirus evaluation version available. ALL of them are separated in different parts. And in my opinion Norton and McAfee are terrible in terms of use of resources + intolerance to cope with many other software. What's worse, a lot of them either do not have enough options, either take complete control of your PC without any permission or possibility to take it back, unless you uninstall them.
On the contrary, I believe that Avast, being unique amongst antivirus software to allow skin change, is because of that one step in advance regarding GUI. ;)
But, of course, tastes may vary. It is impossible for any software company to design a product that is gonna fit the needs of everyone. 8)
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Perfectly said Newton, nothing to add... there is really nothing to add. Million different users, million different opinions. Although, I don't think Vampiric_Crow meant on "ugly" skins... I believe he tried to say that avast! User Interface (so we are actually talking about UI, not GUI... GUI is Graphical User Interface) is split into few different sections, not compiled into one copact unit... so some options, like for example for On-Access Scanner, you can access by left clicking on avast! system tray icon... if you wanna access main avast console, you have to righ-click the same icon... for new users, especially for those which just entered into antivirus application world, it really can be very confusing... also, many fine-tunning options are accessible from .ini file only. I am sure it's not an easy job for Alwil team to put everything under same "umbrella", but there must be some way to bandage everything little bit better... maybe something like AVG is using... one massive central interface with few main buttons that would lead, one to On-Access Scanner, one to main avast! scanner, another to something else etc...
Just my 2 cents...
Cheers !
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Thanks Sasha... ;)
It will be very good that we can handle the tweaks of avast without editing avast4.ini file.
Better will be if we have the explanation of the settings there.
I really think that one of the best things on avast is the skinnable feature. Users can feel strange but, definetively for me, a skinnable application has a superior interface than one that does not offer this possibility. More, avast has both possibilities ;)
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I don't like the Newton...
Sasha is right, I'm referring only to User Interface...
Since we haven't seen any post, on this topic, from the avast! team, I can conclude that this will remain like it is...
Regards
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Since we haven't seen any post, on this topic, from the avast! team, I can conclude that this will remain like it is...
Not exactly...
We started the topic very late in the evening... :P
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I don't like the Newton...
I don't see what's the problem. ???
I was simply suggesting a solution with the additional shortcut. Not criticizing. I perfectly understood what you meant by UI and not GUI, hence why I wrote that you could adjust almost everything from either place, the taskbar icon or the skin part.
Again, as I also mentioned, different people, different tastes, so you can dislike the software or me if you want. ::)
I just find weird to get such a negative response after I'm trying to help.
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Since we haven't seen any post, on this topic, from the avast! team, I can conclude that this will remain like it is...
Not exactly...
We started the topic very late in the evening... :P
:)
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Sorry Newton.
I wanted to say that I didn't liked your suggestion ;)
I forgot to put "suggestion" next to Newton.
I have nothing agains't you... ;)
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That's OK, no problemo. ;D
That's one thing with forums or the Net in general... We can't feel the tone of voice or body language of each other, so just one mistyped word sometimes leads to a big misunderstanding. ;D
Take care.
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Since we haven't seen any post, on this topic, from the avast! team, I can conclude that this will remain like it is...
Not exactly...
We started the topic very late in the evening... :P
Technical, it seems that I was right ;)
Sometimes, just little word from the developers will be nice and clarify this...
Cya
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Technical, it seems that I was right ;)
WHERE IS ALWIL TEAM? :( :P
I'm waiting for an answer in the spyware thread I've started too >:( :(
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All I can say is that no dramatic changes in the avast GUI are due before the release of avast v5 (which is hardly going to happen before the end of this year...).
I'm personally sort of in love with the Longhorn gui so it's quite likely the look'n'feel of avast 5 will be longhorn inspired...
Thanks
Vlk
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All I can say is that no dramatic changes in the avast GUI are due before the release of avast v5 (which is hardly going to happen before the end of this year...).
I'm personally sort of in love with the Longhorn gui so it's quite likely the look'n'feel of avast 5 will be longhorn inspired...
Thanks
Vlk
Thanks for the info, Vlk :)
I hope that you can do the best...
Regards
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Nice topic.
Copy/paste of what should have been here from the start:
The technically impaired...
...can't spend time reading the documentation, because it would eat more time than the little they allot to get the thing done.
...won't really learn, because they forget between each use.
...don't known "what program you are in" or "what was the title of the window", it is just "it".
...consider unexpected dialogs severe (otherwise why bother them), or routine (and click them away). Content matters little, since they understand it little.
When faced with them, I take a hudge step back, think about it, and realise they are RIGHT.
- Spending more time learning than using means it is not self-teaching.
- Knowing it's inward details means it is not serving the user correctly.
- Re-learning the same things mean it is not intuitive.
- Fetching the documentation means it is too complicated.
- Remembering it means it can't work by itself.
It doesn't need to be obscure and complicated.
Often a well-thought and carefull design is intuitive and self-teaching : easy at the start, and the more it is used the more it is understood.
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It is hard to design one single interface to suit many different users...
Control labels:
-Basic users need verbose desciption to understand who, what, when.
-Advanced users prefer concision because it is unobstusive.
-Power users prefer brievity to roam faster in controls.
Feature access organisation:
-Basic users need assistants: few choices at a time, lot of help and advices.
-Advanced users prefer to be in control: menus and windows.
-Power users want as little actions as possible: mouse move/click, keypress, keyboard/mouse change, window spawn/dismiss.
Settings:
-Basic users need little choice. The program decides for them.
-Advanced users prefer more.
-Power users want control over everything.
A powerfull aproach would be to track user level and adapt interface accordingly.
But this raises it's own problems:
- User can't be asked his level.
The easily offended would claim to be expert, the beginner would not know.
This would have to be deduced from other choices, such as custom install, remote configuration or assistant cancelling.
- Support and help would have to account for the differences.
- Several interfaces would have to be designed.
A way out here would be to design interface in an abstract way (purely logical/organisational), and then automatically spawn control layouts from it:
Menu item=Action button=Ok/Cancel dialog.
Chekmark menu item=Chekbox=Yes/No dialog.
Grouped exclusive menu items=Radio buttons=Pick one and validate dialog.
Submenu=Fieldset=Button spawning other dialog.
Such unified interface system could adapt to any environment: extra-small display, text mode, remote control, voice interraction, automated management...
Going this far is clearly overkill and is rather a job for the operating system, just "keeping it as simple as possible" works great too.
And this is my point : to make interface simple, context menus and windows should have the same organisation.
I also made a topic about Systray layout opinion (http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=12602.0).
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Musaran
You sure do like to beat a dead horse. IMHO ;D
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Bob, he may be beating a dead horse but I'd like to point out something. Everyone has opinions, but there are different types of people with opinions:
1. Non-technical user
2. Average user
3. Advanced user
4. Advanced user with specific knowledge of the application
5. Advanced user with expertise in interface design
Based on his posts, I think musaran is type #5. We should respect everyone's opinions, but I think we should lend a little more weight to the opinions of those who have an apparent expertise in the subject at hand, which is actually interface design, not whether or not Avast is a good application or not.
Avast is a wonderful application but is does demonstrate a few poor UI design choices that could be corrected.
Earlier in this thread someone mentioned that NAV and McAfee were resource hogs. That may be the case, and I like Avast better than both of those products, but have you seen their UIs lately? They're spectacular and VERY easy to use. They look great, have a consistent look and feel, and are very easy to understand. With a bit of effort, Avast's UI could rival those interfaces.
John
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Avast is a wonderful application but is does demonstrate a few poor UI design choices that could be corrected.
Earlier in this thread someone mentioned that NAV and McAfee were resource hogs. That may be the case, and I like Avast better than both of those products, but have you seen their UIs lately? They're spectacular and VERY easy to use. They look great, have a consistent look and feel, and are very easy to understand. With a bit of effort, Avast's UI could rival those interfaces.
John
I agree 100%
Musaran's posts don't look to me as attack on avast!, I look at them like this... he is rather a guy with huge UI knowledge behind, desperately trying to point how to improve avast's usability in many ways. Why not listen ? We all can have much better and much easier to learn (for new users especially) antivirus. We all want to be one step ahead of the Norton, right ? Well, we better do something about it... Just my 2 cents (Canadian btw, not US ;D ;D ;D )
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my US 2 cents agrees with Sasha on this one. Ive not taken any of this as an attack either and feel "some" are getting abit defensive. Hey, we all LOVE this program. Whats the harm in suggesting it could be made better? INMO :) I see this happen often here. Someone new comes along and makes some suggestions and some people take it has trashing Avast. He sees some things that could be made better and maybe, justmaybe, thinks this program is WORTH the time and effort on his part to make some very good points about it. I see it as HELP :)
Bob :) the horse isn't dead ... we just need to kick it abit ;)
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Connie,
Bob :) the horse isn't dead ... we just need to kick it abit :)
If you remember the last time whe had a problem, Some chickens gotted killed to fix it.
;D
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chickens , horses... whats next pigs? lol
(http://fool.exler.ru/sm/nud.gif)
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Musaran
I'm really not picking on you. :) Peace...... :)
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Don't you touch my uncle Bob ! ;D I love you all guys and girls !!! We can really make this product even better... no one should feel offended, not even Alwil. These are just constructive comments, and they are very welcome... I use those when I make my projects, and all I can say is, they are very useful sometimes...
Who mentioned horse ? Remember Smilie Knight and Stupid Horse ? ;D ;D ;D
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Igor, besides the tons of good suggestions...
Please, please, keep it simple for the translators. Remember, 20 languages, homogeneity with the Help files, hours and hours.
Keep it simple avast! team, please.
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All these are on the virus alert dialog.
- "More info..." link opens a web page, but the alert dialog stays on top of display.
This is kind of tripping your own foot. :D
- The page is a Virus Incident Report Form (http://www.avast.com/i_kat_72.php?lang=ENG)...
Users expects to get more info, not give. ;D
Either name the link "Send report..." or make the page a help page. Or support both.
- When many infected files are detected at once, the repeating dialogs are an anoyance.
A common pratice is to dismiss such dialogs by repeatedly entering the same command.
Then let's take advantage of the "Recommended action" field (a very good feature):
- Focus the recommended action, so hitting space will do. Sober but efficient.
- Make the field an action button for that very action. Visible but repeating.
Another solution would be to make this dialogue single, with an updating list of pending issues.
This sounds more for power users, yet could be made more novice friendly than actual behaviour.
- What does the "OK" button do ? Having a virus is definitely not ok.
"Leave it", "Ignore", "Bypass" ? I couldn't figure...
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Virus Chest...
- "Infected files" has no opposite "Safe file".
This would also make it more obvious that these are filters, not folders.
- "System files" is mislabelled "File system" in french.
Really confusing, belive me! :(
- "User files" means "my personal files" to the user.
I suppose it is in fact the opposite of "Sytem files", this is misleading.
- More filters : scripts, macros, packed files, emails (if chest-able) !
Maybe being able to make custom user filters ?
I hope I will never have enough infected files to need that. ;D
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When a password is set, it is required for deactivating or suspending services.
However, it is still possible to:
-Stop VRDB generation.
-Change shutdown scan.
-Change update rules.
and more...
I would expect password lock to prevent any security alteration, be it more or less.
Different passwords for different levels of security ffidling could be usefull.
When the memory scan at avast start is interrupted, it still says "completed".
"skipped", "partial" or "interrrupted" would be better.
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I changed to english version and updated my previuous posts with the correct terms.
Here are the new finds:
- The avast "Uninstal procedure" for Windows can uninstall, repair, update, deactivate or fetch&install components (including language packages).
This is the best I have ever seen, it deserves to be accessible from normal interface.
- "Provider" is vague. Provide what ?
avast doesn't provide "Instant Messenging", "Internet Mail" and "Outlook/Exchange", but protection for these.
"Shield" would be short and sound good, but is for on-access protection only.
"Service" would sound usefull and include on-demand scanning.
- Some skins have text hard-built in them, in english of course.
This should be notified on the skin web page.
- "Virus Chest" is misleading, avast puts system file backups in there, and user can put safe files also.
"File Chest" would better suit. However...
...a chest is rather to keep precious things, and viruses are not precious.
...who wants to put safe files with viruses ?
"Safe Storage Zone" would be accurate, but is cumbersome and less coloured.
5. Advanced user with expertise in interface design
Based on his posts, I think musaran is type #5.
Thanks for the compliment :D.
But I am just a user that has used a lot of interfaces, likes to think a lot, and is fond of designing.
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I think they call it a Chest to stick with the pirate theme.