I'd like to appologise a bit.. It may look like I say, that everyone that made skins in the past 10 years, did a bad job, an that I - the fantastic newbie that doesn't know shit - am the new Skin Prophet, that should be followed.. This is not what I ment..
As a sysadmin I have been supporting PC-users over 15 years now. People like simple software, that is simple in use, easy to recognise, and matching what they expect (intuitive design). After one minute of explanation, they must feel confident, they can find out the rest themselves.
I've seen bad software suddenly become very popular, and good software left behind. I think, the first impression of unexperienced users is very important. I think that many designers, being specialist on their own terrain, loose sight on what the naive beginner may feel. When beginners choose a program, their priority list may be this:
1. Ease of use, recognition, fast understanding of how it works, and fast good results.
2. Attractive design.
3. The program must work well. (Comes last. They will find oud after choosing for it.)
I think, most skins lack nr 1. Beginners must learn, they can Zoom, adjust Color, or correct Aspect ratio. Best way is to put a butten for that in plain sight. Then beginners think: "Uh?..". They try it out, and find out. Most of them don't even know the functions are there. Same for Audo or Subtitles.
I think that even one click too much to get things clear or done, might beginners decide, to choose a different player.
That is why I think:
1. Put clear categories like Video and Audio on the main control screen.
2. Also show the most useful options per category on the main control.
3. And for these options, show an Icon and English tekst (they add to the popup texts)
I think this is more important than a fancy design. That's all I wanted to say..
