Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sat 9th Feb 2008 13:05 UTC
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RE[3]: modal dialoges != confirmation messages
by Thom_Holwerda on Sun 10th Feb 2008 13:05
in reply to "RE[2]: modal dialoges != confirmation messages"
Member since:2005-06-29
Even the current Osnews page has so much worse usability than v3 that if I was you, I'd think twice before claiming to be some sort of usability expert.
Where did I make such a claim?
. The icons are on the right side of the topics on main page. English is read from left to right and having the icons appear before the text makes it possible to identify the subject before reading the title. Now they are just gimmicks without any clear use.
Moving the icons to the right was a fully conscious decision. We wanted the text of each newsitem (title/dateline/teaser) to left-align, since - as you point out - that's how we do in the western world. If you find the icon of a newspost more important than its actual content (which you imply by wanting the icon prominently on the left) that's just a different prioritisation, and it has little to do with what is actually better from a usability point of view.
The v3 used colours to distinguish content from navigation and other stuff. The news items were on white background whereas pretty much everything else was on grey background. Currently half of news items is on white and half on grey for no apparent reasons and the white ones blend with the sidebar navigation.
This is a decision based on user feedback. We used to separate the two with a line, but users didn't like it, and as such, we decided to remove it.
"Usability" is not just book knowledge and glorifying the past - it's also common sense and, more importantly, listening to user feedback. Common sense told us we needed to divide the two items with a line or with whatever other fashion, but our users told us not to.
Forgot to mention that the v3 was once mentioned as a good example of using colours in one HCI course I took part.
Did it look at the bad parts of v3 too?
OSN v4 (off topic, maybe)
by Doc Pain on Sun 10th Feb 2008 23:19
in reply to "RE[3]: modal dialoges != confirmation messages"
Member since:2006-10-08
"Usability" is not just book knowledge and glorifying the past - it's also common sense and, more importantly, listening to user feedback.
I may take this chance to add something. I know it's off topic but it finally does fit here, too. I don't have problems with the arrangement or the colors in v4. My "complains" are of a more fundamental nature. Whenever somebody uses quotation marks, these are transformed into -amp-quot-semicolon- entities, and afer some quotation, they develop into strange symbols (question marks and inverted logs, representing some nonstandard character. Wouldn't it be easier to let the "normal" quotation marks unchanged in the same way v3 did? If you insist on typographical quotation marks, just emulate them ,,with commas and apostrophes'' or use «these ones». :-)
And automatic text wrapping seems to destroy hyperlinks...
I may add that finally v4 works for me, and I do like the new design and changes in functionality.
Member since:
2005-07-20
I know what modal dialogs are - I've done quite some research into the subject for a few articles on OSNews a few months ago. I just represented the modality issue here as a modal confirmation dialog, but the same goes for modal property dialogs or modal windows in general.
They are evil, and must be eliminated from computing and graphical user interfaces. If you think you need to use a modal dialog/window, it probably means that somewhere along the way, you made an error in designing your application.
I'm not saying it's easy (or even possible) to construct a modeless interface for your application, but it should be your goal. Always. "
Sorry Thom, but have done any HCI studies at a real university? Modal dialoges do have their place if used properly.
Even the current Osnews page has so much worse usability than v3 that if I was you, I'd think twice before claiming to be some sort of usability expert.
Here are some of the usability problems of the current site just to name a few.
1. The icons are on the right side of the topics on main page. English is read from left to right and having the icons appear before the text makes it possible to identify the subject before reading the title. Now they are just gimmicks without any clear use.
2. The v3 used colours to distinguish content from navigation and other stuff. The news items were on white background whereas pretty much everything else was on grey background. Currently half of news items is on white and half on grey for no apparent reasons and the white ones blend with the sidebar navigation.
Just to name a few.
Edit: Forgot to mention that the v3 was once mentioned as a good example of using colours in one HCI course I took part.
Edited 2008-02-10 12:47 UTC