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
comment:1 follow-ups: ↓ 2 ↓ 4 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.]
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.
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.]
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
Color selector - how to change the "fill" is not obvious