Avast GUI Discussion

[Vlk]

Hi guys,

I'd like to start a little chat about what's your thoughts on the current avast GUI, and where do you think we should be going. I'm not talking that much about aesthetics (although I admit that's also important), but mainly about the overall user experience, i.e. usability of the UI, easiness to find stuff etc.

So...

1. Do you think the v7 UI (in general) is well laid out?
2. Do you like the structuring into the folders (SUMMARY, SCAN COMPUTER, REAL-TIME SHIELDS) and the items below?
3. Do you think the left-hand side navigation bar is a good thing?
4. What do you think about the Settings screen? And the other various setting screens accessible throughout the UI?
5. What's your thought on the Current Status page?
6. What about the presentation of the shields (I mean the real-time notifications, toasters etc)?
7. What do you think about the virus update notifications? (+sounds)
8. Any other issues/suggestions/recommendations etc?


Thanks
Vlk

[MikeBCda]

Nothing major jumps out at me in the main GUI, with one exception -- I'd love to see the self-protection module added to the list of item options in the status-bar settings, so that its inactivity (typically from the user temporarily disabling it for one of several reasons) is included in the "not fully protected" warnings.  I realize there is now a notice about it being disabled on the status screen, which was a welcome addition to a relatively recent version-update, but that should be made more conspicuous since self-protection is definitely an important part of avast.

My suggestions/requests deal more with the tool-tray icon and its menu than with the main GUI, which I rarely have open except when doing an on-demand scan:

1)  The increased priority concerning lack of self-protection should carry over to the icon, triggering the not-fully-protected exclamation point;
2)  This (and the following) one both relate to menu features that we used to have way back when that I'd love to see resurrected, both of which now require going into the main GUI -- first is access to the Settings page from there;
3)  Ability to temporarily disable one or more individual shields from there, rather than (or in addition to) the current all-shields approach.  I generally disable the File shield while moving or otherwise handling large numbers of files, since it speeds things up considerably that way.

Just my two cents' (at most) worth -- any change returned gratefully accepted. 

[schmidthouse]

I suppose there can always be tweaks and additions to a GUI.
I personally, first find the Avast GUI very appealing and user friendly and second don't place a whole lot of importance on the GUI appearance as one usually gets used to using a program over time regardless of aesthetics and various functionality.
IMHO.

[bikemanAMD]

Well Main Gui i don't see nothing that i would think of changing--Is very appealing, and easy to read and sure

 I agree adding something in status bar on the Self Protection i think would be a good thing,  The Sounds don't bother me at all when it does an update, and personally i like the sounds, as i know it updates then--even if i'm not at the computer or it finds a threat

Gui seems easy enough for My Mom and other family members to use without having them ask me a ton of questions--Normally i only open the Main GUi when i'm doing on demand scan

Left side Navigation works just fine for me, on All Monitor sizes

[CharleyO]

***

As for me ...

1. Very well laid out and I like it as it is. Those I know that use Avast also seem to like the GUI and I know hundreds (maybe more than a thousand) that use Avast.

2. Yes

3. Yes

4. I like them as they are now.

5. Like it as it is.

6. They are as they should be.

7. These in both looks & sounds are nice. Actually, I use one of the alternate English languages from time to time just for a change. The notifications stay up just long enough to read them & then go away.

8. No issues for me and, sorry, but no suggestions/recommendations neither.


***

[lord ami]

I like the current UI very much. Everything seems OK and understandable.

As I am translator for avast, maybe add some little ? (question) boxes to some elements like
"cloud" and
"This option tells the engine to populate the persistent cache during the scan. Turning this option on will slow down the scan."

This could help users to better understand what these things mean.

[Vlk]

Thanks for the feedback so far. Here's one other thing. Some antiviruses tend to divide between "local protection" (File System Shield etc), "network protection" (Web Shield, Firewall etc) and structure the UI this way. Does it make sense?

Also, we now have 8 shields in Avast and it is true that their functionality may be somewhat dependent on each other. Do you think it would make sense (and make the UI more understandable) if we merged them to just a couple of "super shields"? Or got ridden of the Shield concept altogether?


Thanks
Vlk

[CraigB]

No complaints or advice from me about the GUI ( its all good ) of course if there is a way to simplifiy the shields grouping ( super shields ) as you put it and make it more easyer for some off the more technically challenged people to understand by combining but still keep the configurability then that would be good i guess.

[SpeedyPC]

No complaints or advice from me about the GUI ( its all good ) of course if there is a way to simplify the shields grouping ( super shields ) as you put it and make it more easier for some off the more technically challenged people to understand by combining but still keep the configurability then that would be good i guess.

+1 I'm the same as craigb as said above

[RejZoR]

Thanks for the feedback so far. Here's one other thing. Some antiviruses tend to divide between "local protection" (File System Shield etc), "network protection" (Web Shield, Firewall etc) and structure the UI this way. Does it make sense?

Also, we now have 8 shields in Avast and it is true that their functionality may be somewhat dependent on each other. Do you think it would make sense (and make the UI more understandable) if we merged them to just a couple of "super shields"? Or got ridden of the Shield concept altogether?


Thanks
Vlk

That's what i've recommended months ago...

Combine them into:

- File System Shield (basically just file system protection)
- Internet Shield (Mail, IM, P2P, Web Shield and Network Shield)
- Proactive Shield (Behavior Shield, Auto Sandboxing, WebRep, SiteCorrect)

You also have to do something about registration system because this just doesn't work. Basically none of the users that i handle were able to do it on their own once it expired or was close to that. Free version should auto-renew itself so users don't need any interaction.
You expect in paid versions to enter serial numbers and so on but in free version it's just an unnecessary ballast.

You can instead make the connection to avast! account mandatory if you want,  because users only have to do that once and then its operational forever. But i'd still go with the install and forget concept, meaning no registration at all and no need for avast! Account registration. Something like MSE, AVG and AVIRA have in free versions. Install and forget so to speak.

I'd also re-arrange the Cloud Services page. There should be more clear info about received updates there along with clearly visible if you're connected to the cloud or not. Most users don't even know that those moving circles through the line means its online. Make it clear with text or color coded icons that indicate if everything is connected and running.

[DavidR]

1. Generaly I think that the avast7 UI is fairly well laid out and relatively few levels to go through to find what you want.

I just wonder if the Share, Support and Settings links on the main screen should be in the location they are or should only be the Maintenance tab as it is duplication (though Settings isn't in the Maintenance tab). That would then leave the Upgrade button out on a limb, since it is already in the Summary section this too is redundant.

2&3. I think that there are too many tabs, especially if the user hasn't unchecked the Community, avast recommendation settings you then have the Market tab.

I do think it is a good thing to have the Tabs as essentially without it you would be adding another level in the UI to find these options and what they contain, now or after a revision of the Tab grouping.

I know the Marketing guys are trying to push the marketing/upgrade path, but it is everywhere (duplication, duplication, duplication) and we have the periodic general upgrade ads combined with the auto update notifications. Someone really has to decide on a reasonable marketing policy/strategy as having it shoved down your throat at every turn is somewhat intrusive.

4. I like the Settings screen and the sub-screens as you essentially only have one level to go down to find the detailed settings. However, there are 16 sub-sections in the main settings window, that could possible be reduced without adding too many levels. But the 16 don't seem to be easily grouped into common areas.

5. The current 'Summary' page could do with revision, given what I have said about moving the Share, Support and Settings buttons. The Secured section Monitor and green check mark image is too large and pretty ugly and I always have the Hide Details selected to reduce the overall size of the Summary screen.

6. personally I could do without the Real-Time Shields, 'Protection Status' sub-section whilst it is nice to see all of the data at once it isn't essential and must be a bit of a nightmare for the programmers to display all of this data and it is massive.

7. I have generally liked the toaster update notifications as they were relatively unobtrusive, but now they are obtrusive, since the introduction of the double height and wider combined auto update/upgrade toaster (which still looks bad). I have dialled the duration right down to 1 sec and I don't think I'm alone in doing that, so its marketing benefit is lost.

8. Although this might be considered an aesthetic suggestion the overall size of the avastUI is too big, even more so on a netbook (1024 X 600) or low resolution screen, even when you reduce the size to the smallest that avast will let you go.

[true indian]

1 suggestion:
web and network shield alerts can be directly shown on the browser page itself like avira does..

Only a thought in my mind.. UI should be kept simple as possible in any way as it is now  ..the above suggestion just makes the alerts look more nice enough..

something like in screenshot..

[Para-Noid]

For what it's worth, I like the GUI as it is. Simple, easy to navigate and pleasing to the eye. Personally I prefer that each shield has it's own tab for easy access. The pie chart is also a great addition. IMHO keep it as it is. 

[RejZoR]

Oh, one more IMPORTANT thing. Give us proper logs for all "shields". Network Shield for example doesn't have any. You can only see last scanned and last detected. And that's it. I want to see full history logs for all shields without exception. Sometimes you need to track down something and you just can't because there aren't any easy accessible logs. Or if there are two detections one after another you can't look back what was the first one after a while.

Show traffic history only throws you on the graphs page which isn't exactly helpful when you need specific file or URL info.
I also wouldn't mind full URL logging of clean stuff as well. This should be disabled by default due to privacy concerns, but you should be able to set your own number of entries allowed (lets say 1000) and avast! would log that.

Other than this, i really don't feel the need for any other changes. Especially not the Metro or massive oversized big icons like most others use.
Big icons don't help if you're constantly changing the interface. When you get the sweet spot (which avast! has already reached imo), don't change the formula. Just tweak it a bit and refresh on major program releases so users know something big changed. But still, nothing from core GUI components should be changed. This way users learn the interface and stick with it.

[danny96]

Some critism and suggestions
- Some shields does not have it's advanced settings (at least make logs in it)
- Protection status not visible in other sections than in main page.
- Virus pop-ups are too big IMO - make them small like ESET's or norton's ones.
- Sounds are almost giving me heart attacks sometimes
- Widget is useless and break some functions like discussed before. (Dunno if this counts also into GUI BTW)
- In latest versions I cannot switch between active pop-ups
- In GUI I miss button to control all shields at once (like Turn off/on all shields at once-IKR it's in tray icon but not in GUI)
- Why manual updating does stops while switching to other section(s) and/or closing the GUI?
- Too much ads. COMODO has NO ads!

Avast!'s GUI is not bad but not best either. There are much better out there.
The interface needs revolution! something  like AVG does. Its 2013 version is getting new metro GUI.