RFC: Redesigned Top Bar with T-timers

[hummelstrand]

About Me

This RFC is posted on behalf of the BBC.

Use Case

Sofie users need an easier-to-use, more intuitive and more customisable Top Bar that also allows them to utilise the new T-timers.

Proposal

• Rebuilding the Top Bar components, updating their visual appearance, and adding T-timers,
• Add T-timer overlays to the Prompter Screen, the Presenter Screen, and the Director Screen. (Design not yet pictured.)

Changes to the Top Bar

Enhance usability and discoverability by...

• ...visually showing that there's a menu (previously only accessible via right-clicking the Top Bar).

• ...using the Time-of-Day visual style (introduced in the Director Screen) for the clock.

• ...vertically grouping the Start/End/Duration timers with "Planned" on top and "Calculated" on the bottom.

• ...horizontally grouping the three Start/End/Duration timers.

• ...visually echoing the counters from the ON AIR indicator and placing them to the left (instead of centred and connected to the clock, as done previously).

• ...adding the "Segment Budget" (previously only shown on the current Segment Header).

• ...renaming"Diff" to Over/Under (with dynamic labels!) and distinctive visual style (introduced in the Director Screen).

• ...improving readability by increasing contrast of the labels when the user hovers anywhere on the Top Bar, and only showing the playlist + rundown name, and the “Close Rundown View” button when hovering.

• ...only showing the timers/counters that are relevant for the show type (for example; don't show the "Planned Start" if the playlist/rundown does not have that parameter set).

• ...removing outdated elements (the status indicators underneath the current clock).

T-timers

The new Top Bar will be able to display up to 3 T-timers.

Playlist/Rundown timing display

The Start/End/Duration parameters set by the NRCS will not only drive the visibility of the respective timers on the Top Bar, the parameters "set" by the NRCS will also be indicated next to timer with a • symbol. This lays ground for future enhancements outlined in the section "Front-end editing of rundown and T-timer parameters" below.

In the above example the "Editorial Start Time" and "Duration" was set by the NRCS, as indicated by the • symbols.

Miscellaneous

The design is based on earlier NRK-sponsored work on creating a Top Bar tailored for different kinds of shows, where users wanted the ability to customise the GUI elements to only show relevant data.

The updated design incorporates the styling already implemented in the Director Screen where  counters, time-of-day, as well as over/under (previously called "Diff") have visually distinctive styling.

Updating the rehearsal colour

The current colour of the Top Bar in Rehearsal Mode has been a long-standing eyesore. The justification for the colour choice was "a colour that really stands out", but this can be achieved by other means. This is however out of the scope of this RFC.

Front-end editing of rundown and T-timer parameters

For this first implementation we do not intend to add any new GUI functionality that will let the user edit the rundown timing or any of the T-timers. Some work has already been carried on to figuring out the UI/UX for a future possible implementation letting the user change/override the rundown start/stop/duration parameters, as well as start/stop, add/delete, enable/disable, edit, and reset T-timers initially set by the NRCS and Sofie blueprints, but it will not be implemented at this moment.

Examples

Process

The Sofie Team will evaluate this RFC and open up a discussion about it, usually within a week.

• RFC created
• Sofie Team has evaluated the RFC
• A workshop has been planned
• RFC has been discussed in a workshop
• A conclusion has been reached, see comments in thread

[jesperstarkar]

A third timing-RFC from BBC will be posted soon which explains the ideas behind new playlist timing properties that go into this new design.

[jstarpl]

I have a question for a case that's not included in these mock-ups: how should this design react when there's no "Segment Budget" being used? Also, what's the relationship of the Planned Start/End/Duration and the properties on the data model (expectedStart/expectedEnd/expectedDuration)? Should all three timers show up always, or will only the ones set by blueprints show up and otherwise leave a blank space?

[jesperstarkar]

Also, what's the relationship of the Planned Start/End/Duration and the properties on the data model (expectedStart/expectedEnd/expectedDuration)? Should all three timers show up always, or will only the ones set by blueprints show up and otherwise leave a blank space?

New RFC (third and final) incoming as soon as possible. BBC will be suggesting redefining these timing properties. The new model will potentially get rid of the timing mode and deal with the combination of these user-owned timing properties and their triangular relation.

The design proposal in this RCF can also work and be done without changing any timers and their meaning, and vice versa. But we seek to propose changes to both in tandem to land at the solution presented above, which we belive to be the ultimate way of defining, presenting and controlling show timing properties.

[hummelstrand]

I have a question for a case that's not included in these mock-ups: how should this design react when there's no "Segment Budget" being used?

That area will just be left blank.

[hummelstrand]

Also, what's the relationship of the Planned Start/End/Duration and the properties on the data model (expectedStart/expectedEnd/expectedDuration)? Should all three timers show up always, or will only the ones set by blueprints show up and otherwise leave a blank space?

That is actually demonstrated in the examples, most clearly shown in the "Duration" (no "PLAN. START" and "PLAN. END" counters visible) and the "Nothing Set" (all three "Planned" counters hidden).

[jstarpl]

Does this redesign include changing the header height, or do these mock-ups assume the same height as currently, just with smaller text elements to fit them all?

[hummelstrand]

Does this redesign include changing the header height, or do these mock-ups assume the same height as currently, just with smaller text elements to fit them all?

Same height as today. A previous iteration of the redesign featured a less tall Top Bar, but that was deemed too tight to fit all the elements.

[hummelstrand]

A potential way to have fewer counters the Top Bar would be to hide both "Planned Start" and "Started" counters in the "Start" column, as soon as the first Take has been executed, as these values can be deemed to be less important by then.

[RannveigNC]

This seems interesting, always good to enhance the visibility. At the same time I’m a bit worried about visual overload for our users since previous feedback regarding the top bar has leaned more towards removing timers rather than adding. I will run this by some our directors within the beginning of next week. This could perhaps also benefit our sport directors, but with the olympics coming up I doubt that we will get any feed back from them within your timeframe.

[hummelstrand]

It’s important to note that this proposed solution—unlike the current Top Bar—hides irrelevant counters, for example the “Planned Start” for streaming shows that do not have that parameter. Most of the examples show a worst-case scenario.

Perhaps there could be a “simplified” set of 3 start/end/duration counters, and the user could click that area in order to switch to the “full” set showing all the proposed counters? The challenge is to agree on such a subset of counters that will work for all the different use cases at all the broadcasters, though…

[hummelstrand]

Based on feedback we've updated the Top Bar designs with the following modifications, from left to right:

• Removed the "Segment Budget" counter (since that functionality can easily be achieved with a T-timer configured via blueprints).
• Clarified the "ON AIR" counter by using the look—from the actual On Air line—on the label.
• Switched the "Planned Start" counter from time-of-day to a countdown.
• The group of Start/End/Duration counters now have two modes; a simplified (default) view which shows up to 3 values, and a full view which shows up to 6 values. The user can switch between the two modes by clicking anywhere in the group.
• The Start/End/Duration counters are now context-sensitive; for example the "Started" time-of-day value has been replaced by a more useful "Show Runtime" counter.

I'm attaching three animated examples showing the hover states, plus how the user can click on the timers to switch between simplified and the full set of start/end/duration timers.