Opened 14 years ago

Last modified 9 years ago

#2282 closed enhancement

Don't require the user to experiment to find out what the color-selector icons are for — at Version 6

Reported by: mikus Owned by:
Priority: Unspecified by Maintainer Milestone: Unspecified
Component: design Version: 0.90.x
Severity: Unspecified Keywords:
Cc: Distribution/OS: OLPC
Bug Status: Unconfirmed

Description (last modified by mikus)

XO-1 os1 (F14) sugar-0.89.7
For someone who has not previously used the color-selector (in 'My Settings' -> 'About Me'), currently there is NO guidance provided.

There appears to be enough vertical space to be able to move the "name" entry field down a bit. Then a small image (outline gray, center black) could be placed centered under the two lefttmost colored icons, and a small image (outline black, center gray) could be placed centered under the two rightmost colored icons. This would give the user a clue as to WHAT would be affected by clicking on those non-central icons.

Also, I personally would prefer to have a larger visual gap (spacing) to separate the central colored icon from the others.

Change History (10)

Changed 14 years ago by mikus

Color selector - how to change the "fill" is not obvious

comment:1 follow-ups: Changed 14 years ago by walter

I am confused about what I am seeing in your attached PNG file. I notice that you made your own icon. Perhaps you could attach that icon to the ticket, as I think it may be the source of the problem/confusion.

comment:2 in reply to: ↑ 1 Changed 14 years ago by mikus

  • Description modified (diff)

Replying to walter:

I notice that you made your own icon. Perhaps you could attach that icon to the ticket, as I think it may be the source of the problem/confusion.

I believe you are missing the reason why I wrote #2282. For me, the SHAPE of the icons is a "strawman" -- right now the user is presented with five icons, without a CLUE (especially if not connected to the wiki on the internet) as to how he is supposed to work with those icons. I am suggesting that some graphical 'guides' be added to this particular screen, to introduce the user to a quicker understanding of the the function of those five icons.

Per your request, I am attaching the icon I use. I have been using that same icon for over two years, and it has never given me any trouble. [I did not make that icon myself - I got it from one of the commercial "parts suppliers" for the OLPC.]

Changed 14 years ago by mikus

Icon used by mikus in place of the "standard" XO icon.

comment:3 Changed 14 years ago by walter

Thanks for attaching the icon. It looks OK, so I am even more confused. I don't understand how the fill color in your attached PNG could be the same in all five instances of the image.

I believe you are missing the reason why I wrote #2282

Given that the fill color is not changing, I understand your confusion and hence the motivation for the ticket. If the fill color were different in the two left-hand icons, I don't believe you'd have been as confused by the interface. So, I'd like to get to the root cause of the first problem before considering a design change.

Did you somehow customize your colors, or are they from the standard list? I assume that nothing happens when you click on either of the left-hand icons. But does the stroke color change when you click on either of the right-hand icons?

thanks.

Changed 14 years ago by walter

this color combination has no alternative fills for this stroke

comment:4 in reply to: ↑ 1 Changed 14 years ago by mikus

Replying to walter:

I am confused about what I am seeing in your attached PNG file.

What you are seeing is five colored icons, which the user has to experimentally click on -- to try to figure out "what is happening" when he does so. [I believe additional 'guidance' (placed right by the icon to be clicked) would be helpful to that user.]

If you were confused by the SHAPE of the icon I used, I have enclosed another PNG file -- taken (on sugar-0.89.8) while using the "standard" XO icon shape. With both PNG files, I am emphasizing that when presented with similar-looking paired icons, the user might get quite confused.


I can understand the concept of 'fill' (to be controlled by the left pair) and 'stroke' (to be controlled by the right pair). Perhaps there is a bug with the current implementation - but I am unable to describe a "how to reproduce the confusing part" procedure.

For myself, I have settled on wanting particular 'stroke/fill' colors to identify specific machines. But in using the existing implementation, sometimes when I click on the outside-right icon, the 'fill' shown in the two leftmost icons changes color. That leaves me unable to proceed systematically - e.g., to cycle until I get the 'fill' I want, then cycle until I get the 'stroke' I want. Net result: so far I myself HAVE NOT LEARNED how to use those five icons.

[By the way, if there are 18 colors to choose from (for say a 'fill') -- how many times should I need to click to cycle to the color I want ? [Sometimes it seems like a LOT more then 18 clicks.]

Changed 14 years ago by mikus

Color selector image - standard icon used

comment:5 Changed 14 years ago by walter

Mikus,

I think I have figured out what is going on. It seems that for this particular stroke color, there is no other fill color combination, hence the lack of a set of new choices for the fill colors. I'll double-check, but I think this may be an isolated example...

I am not sure where to go from here. I don't believe that your "help" idea would help in this circumstance, since clicking on the fill icons will not result in a change, further confusing the user. It may make sense to add a few more color combinations, so that this anomalous condition never occurs.

I will also explore increasing the spacing as per your suggestion.

comment:6 Changed 14 years ago by mikus

  • Description modified (diff)

Putting back the description I deleted accidentally

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