frivl

Frivl is a UI proposal for tablets. It’s a derivative of Citrus UI, but it’s different in several key aspects:

File browser

It has become expected of mobile productivity applications to include their own file browser, and LibreOffice can be no different. The file browser I designed works with the standard Android gestures: long press to select, drag on top of another icon to create a folder. There are five tabs along the top — one for each file type (except “Database” and “Equation”, since those are rarely used and therefore don’t require a special tab), plus an “All” entry.

No save or save as

It has also become a norm for mobile applications to not include a save button and just save automatically. Therefore, no “Save” key. “Save as” would be replaced by “Duplicate”, which would be done in the file browser.

One filetype

The application saves in ODF formats and only offers export options and other formats when sharing the document.

Pull-down button

The pull-down button, represented by an icon with an associated “ring”, is my proposed alternative for split buttons on touch-based UIs. A split button is made up of a button that executes a command and a button next to it (denoted by a down arrow) that allows tweaking settings for this command. Similarly, tapping a pull-down button executes a command, but its settings are accessed by pressing the button and moving the finger in the direction of the ring.

Insert bar

To insert items, you use the insert bar. You can show the insert bar by sliding from the left edge of the screen inward, and you can hide it by pressing its ring (see mockup) and sliding to the edge of the screen.

Alignment slider

I’ve been experimenting with an “alignment slider” — a space-saving alternative to the three standard alignment icons. What do you think?

Rulers

Rulers are contextual, appearing only when a floating object or a tab/column/indent/ is selected. Selecting a page group shows the ruler with margin handles. More about rulers here.

More to come…