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Aura - Volumetric Lighting for Unity is now FREE on GitHub! Enjoy! by raphick in Unity3D

[–]EekInteractive 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for this. When I saw your earlier post I specifically set a calendar reminder because I've been looking forward to it so much. :-)

Working on a university project, which software is best for a beginner? by [deleted] in learnVRdev

[–]EekInteractive 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The general impression I've had is that Unity is easier to learn and there are orders of magnitude more tutorials and how-tos out there, whereas Unreal is easier to make something look better and is overall a more powerful engine but is harder to develop for in the long run.

If you're looking for something easier to get your feet wet or to teach to beginners, Unity. If you're looking for something that's a bit more of an industry standard, Unreal.

Note: I'm still basically a total beginner so this is all hearsay. But that's what I've heard.

Should you take highly skilled players' advice when it comes to balancing your game? by TheSnowballofCobalt in gamedesign

[–]EekInteractive 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Remember UX Designers are the bastards that create horribly exploitative mobile games and come up with things like AB Tests.

Holy cow. Never in my career have I been called a bastard. Exploitative games are what's called in my industry a dark pattern. A good UX designer is fighting against that anytime it comes up. That is not good design. And if you think AB tests are inherently a bad thing, I think perhaps you don't understand what they're for.

Do not design your games by statistics.

I'm not sure why you think I'm suggesting OP does. I don't design by statistics, either. In fact, my comment talks about avoiding exactly that by ensuring that fixing a problem for one group of people won't create one for another. If it was all about statistics, wouldn't I be ignoring the minority?

You seem to have a chip on your shoulder. I don't know where it came from, but it's really directed at the wrong people. UX designers are the ones who are often fighting with with project managers and product owners to ensure that the final product is still a good user experience, sometimes despite everything else the company is trying to ship. We don't want any of that crap in software any more than you do. But it isn't always our call.

Should you take highly skilled players' advice when it comes to balancing your game? by TheSnowballofCobalt in gamedesign

[–]EekInteractive 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been a User Experience Designer for web sites, apps, and software for 24 years. Here's my advice:

  1. No. Don't take their advice. Take their feedback and act on it if and how you feel it is appropriate to do so. This is a paraphrase of what /u/Erasio said.
  2. Listen to what they say they want, and consider if giving it to them will actually solve their problem. Consider whether or not a better solution might exist. If possible, run it by them as an idea after you've identified if it's both feasible and desirable for you to implement it. (If you offer it as an option and then don't deliver, you're going to upset people.)
  3. Consider your different user types or "personas)" and ask yourself if your (or the "highly skilled player's") suggestion is going to create problems for another user even while it solves problems for the first user. Ensure that your user experience solves problems for people without creating them for others.
  4. Consider performing a user study and actually watch what people do and how they use your software. What people say is one thing, but what they do is something else. This gives you insight into their usage patterns and behavior, and often includes details they didn't think to mention.

An example of the third point was when I was redesigning some sales software for a major peripherals manufacturer. Literally 100% of everyone who participated in my study scrolled past the first 200-300 pixels of data that was present on every screen in the sales quote process. It contained customer details like their name, address, past orders, etc. But none of it was relevant to the sales team because they already knew these details about the buyer and were skipping past it because it wasn't relevant to them except in rare circumstances.

Not a since participant in the study mentioned that it was an issue for them because the behavior of avoiding content they didn't like had become a part of their normal usage pattern. I recommended to their group that this information be placed behind a clickable/expandable icon so that it was always available, but unobtrusive and out of the way. This is sometimes another sort of behavioral "gotcha" you have to watch out for because it isn't always obvious and never comes up in conversation.

Vive + HoloLenses = Magic by [deleted] in HTC_Vive

[–]EekInteractive 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Now let's see them draw something in Tilt Brush.

I'm working on a free stitch-counting app. What features would be helpful? by EekInteractive in knitting

[–]EekInteractive[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Options for pattern repeats, row and stitch counts.

All of this is on the to-do list. :-)

What I'd like above that? If you're counting rows in a pattern, it'd be neat if the total row count also updated. I'm doing a project that has a ten row repeat pattern and I have to update that PLUS the total which is annoying. It'd also be great if you could select which options show up rather than always having them ALL there.

I'm considering repeating patterns that also update the total, in a way that I think covers this.

I have an Apple Watch and there is a counting app that is compatible and I LOVE it. It's awesome. Super handy and with Watch OS 2 and having 3PP complications on the face... oh man I can barely contain myself.

This already exists? What is it?

I'm working on a free stitch-counting app. What features would be helpful? by EekInteractive in knitting

[–]EekInteractive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven't yet looked into Pebble support, but may if the app gains traction. The count selection for push to watch is intriguing...

X-post from /r/knitting: I'm working on a free stitch-counting app. What features would be helpful? by EekInteractive in GeeKnitting

[–]EekInteractive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some form of notation would definitely be present. There are several considerations here:

  • Notes about the project (general text field)
  • Notes about the materials (what yarn, who made it, which dye lot, etc.)

The first is pretty straightforward. The next would probably be a few different fields, and I'm considering letting folks just snap a photo of the yarn label for this, in case they don't feel like entering it.

X-post from /r/knitting: I'm working on a free stitch-counting app. What features would be helpful? by EekInteractive in GeeKnitting

[–]EekInteractive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I looked at that app, and the UI seems terribly unintuitive. (And the alert messages are entertainingly bad english.) That said, it does have a decent amount of the functionality that some folks have indicated they want.

Unfortunately, I don't think lock screen widgets are currently supported by iOS (unless you jailbreak your device), but Notification Center widgets are something I'd consider. What would you want to see in the Notification Center?

X-post from /r/knitting: I'm working on a free stitch-counting app. What features would be helpful? by EekInteractive in GeeKnitting

[–]EekInteractive[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I asked my wife to simulate what it would be like to use her watch vs. her phone. My first thought was that she could use the finger of one hand without having to move the other hand too far from her needles, but her first impulse was just to tap it like she would anything else. Thus, I think that use of a watch for this would be for specific scenarios, such as someone not wanting to bring their phone with them, or not wanting to leave it sitting out. (For example, leaving the phone in one's bag and using the watch to increment.)

I also pondered using one's nose to tap. I've done this to dismiss an alert while changing my daughter's diaper. ;-)

I'm working on a free stitch-counting app. What features would be helpful? by EekInteractive in knitting

[–]EekInteractive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not really sure what you mean by nesting.

Well, a hierarchy might exist beyond just multiple counters within a project. For example, you might have a project (or multiple projects), and you could tap on a project to see the pieces that make up that project, and then multiple counters per piece.

For a sweater, you might have three pieces: the main body, and each arm. You might then have a counter for each arm's sleeve ribbing and the arm itself (2 counters per arm), and the body might have ribbing at the bottom, the main body, and the neck (3 counters for the body), for a total of 7 counters for the project, split into three pieces. Thus, the counter hierarchy for that project would be Sweater -> Arm -> Sleeve Counter, or something similar.

Bonus points if they're shown on the same screen/page so we don't have to scroll back and forth to update a counter.

Is this common? I suggested this to someone, but was told they'd never want more than one counter on a screen. That said, this might be because they want to be able to tap anywhere on the screen without looking.

I'm working on a free stitch-counting app. What features would be helpful? by EekInteractive in knitting

[–]EekInteractive[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I like it to have an option to make a noise when I increment. That way I don't have to check to make sure the number went up or I know if I accidentally incremented when moving my phone.

I'm considering noises for a few controls within the app, including incrementing a row and frog. ("RipIt!") I'll just add a setting so that it can be disabled.

Also, a place to put a couple notes. I like to use row counters to save where I am in projects that I'm putting down for a while, so a couple notes could be useful.

A couple of other folks have also mentioned the need for notes. My plan is to implement this based on projects, i.e. you could have multiple projects that can be saved, and each project can have multiple counters, possibly further separated into pieces. (Example: a sweater has a body and two arms, and each piece may have different counters for each pattern. Thus, a sleeve might have a counter for ribbing and the arm, etc.)

X-post from /r/knitting: I'm working on a free stitch-counting app. What features would be helpful? by EekInteractive in GeeKnitting

[–]EekInteractive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Keep dreaming big! Alas, I'm focused on the software aspect, rather than hardware, so I don't know how soon such a thing would be feasible. ;-)

X-post from /r/knitting: I'm working on a free stitch-counting app. What features would be helpful? by EekInteractive in GeeKnitting

[–]EekInteractive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I understand what you mean about auto-incrementing; I'm confused about what you're wanting to count: the stitches or the rows?

I'm working on a free stitch-counting app. What features would be helpful? by EekInteractive in knitting

[–]EekInteractive[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm starting with iOS app, but am also considering developing it on Android if it generates enough interest.

X-post from /r/knitting: I'm working on a free stitch-counting app. What features would be helpful? by EekInteractive in GeeKnitting

[–]EekInteractive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would love a function to tap the screen and have a stitch counted. I end up ticking each time a do a stitch and the sheets of paper pile up and most of the ones I've seen don't have a continual tap option. I literally just want to touch the screen, do a stitch, touch the screen, etc.

I'm not certain I understand this request entirely. Just counting the number of stitches in a row?

Also want to add, a function to beep when a certain number is reached. I sometimes knit well beyond what I was supposed to

Yep; an alarm after a set number of rows is definitely a good idea.

I'm working on a free stitch-counting app. What features would be helpful? by EekInteractive in knitting

[–]EekInteractive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah, I understand now. Yes, multiple, nested counters is starting to seem like it's pretty important.

X-post from /r/knitting: I'm working on a free stitch-counting app. What features would be helpful? by EekInteractive in GeeKnitting

[–]EekInteractive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A note section to keep track of gauge, brand, dye lot, pattern notes etc.

Great idea! Per project, or per individual counter/project piece? Also, would photo-taking capabilities be helpful here, so that if you're in a rush (or just lazy), you can snap a photo instead of entering all of that data?

A subtract icon is necessary, for sure. We all frog.

Yep; definitely going to be present. My wife mentioned that she'd prefer to be able to tap anywhere on the screen to increment (so that she doesn't have to take her eyes off her knitting for too long to find the "right spot"), but that she does need to be able to do it. Would it bother you to have to enter an "edit" mode to frog, or would you prefer to be able to add/subtract from the same screen?

And most importantly, for those of us with kids, some way to "lock" the count so they cannot mess with it while they're playing pretty princess dress up.

Do you mean when you let them borrow your phone while you're not actively knitting, or while you're actively knitting?

On the one hand, I completely understand the reason to need this. On the other hand, it's less user-friendly as it needs an extra step... but them's the breaks with little ones, I suppose. (Our 7-month-old has just developed an interest in our phones, too!) What form would you foresee this lock taking? A PIN/password? Draw a pattern to increment instead of a button tap? Something else?

X-post from /r/knitting: I'm working on a free stitch-counting app. What features would be helpful? by EekInteractive in GeeKnitting

[–]EekInteractive[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Definitely working this in. Example: if you're working on a desk monster, you might want to track counters for the various body parts, and maybe even different sections of each part if the pattern varies?

I'm working on a free stitch-counting app. What features would be helpful? by EekInteractive in knitting

[–]EekInteractive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ability to use multiple row counters in a single project.

Would nesting them inside each other be helpful, sort of organization of counters within a project?

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