Request for icons for updater applet
Hello everyone!
NOTE: Cross-posted as this involves both teams, IMHO.
We have a need for icons for the updater applet for both GNOME and KDE.
The current icons have certain limitations in areas of usability and
accessibility. Please refer to bug 246157 [1] for an example.
I have made some proposals in the wiki [2]. One might also check the
parent page [3], which also holds the current icons.
Currently we have 4 icons, based on a blue dot with a small label on the
bottom right. Each label indicates a certain state:
* Red: Error occured
* Yellow: Updates available
* Striped(Yellow/Black): Checking for Updates
* Green: No updates
We want to have another state: "Applying Updates", which could be merged
with "Checking for updates" into "Updater working/Busy"
So, UX teams should verify which states need distinguishing from a
usability perspective and artworkers should then find a usable and
accessible solution.
Links:
[1]: https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=246157
[2]: http://en.opensuse.org/Updater_applet/Icon_proposals
[3]: http://en.opensuse.org/Updater_Applet
Thanks in advance!
Josh
--
Jörg Kreß
I like both the proposals. They look better then the current opensuse-updater ones, which are not easy to identify, especially if you use a high resolution of the screen. However I find the proposal 2 better: * Icons are more consistent. They don't change shape and this should help the user to identify the applet. * They are coherent with the icons used in the past by zen-updater. Regards, A. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-ux+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-ux+help@opensuse.org
Den Tuesday 22 May 2007 16:46:46 skrev Joerg Kress:
We have a need for icons for the updater applet for both GNOME and KDE.
I don't agree that tango icons fit in KDE as stated on the wiki page (at least for KDE3, with crystal icons, on KDE4 it might not be quite as bad). Apparently many people feel the same way, judging by the reception, when tango icons were put in YaST2 in 10.2 development phase. I'm not sure if coherence with zen-updater is a good thing, since many people will have had bad experiences with that, and many will probably think it's the same thing on 10.3 - even if only one icon is the same. Personally I was a big fan of the idea Narayan came up with for opensuseupdater when he originally wrote it. Geeko on a green background, and the geeko changes colour to notify of different situations. Of course Narayan is a hacker and not a great artist, so it didn't look great, but the idea was cool. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-ux+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-ux+help@opensuse.org
Hello,
I'm not sure if coherence with zen-updater is a good thing, since many people will have had bad experiences with that, and many will probably think it's the same thing on 10.3 - even if only one icon is the same.
I hope not. Zen icons are just standard tango icons, and they're used also in other distributions. So this should not be an issue.
Personally I was a big fan of the idea Narayan came up with for opensuseupdater when he originally wrote it. Geeko on a green background, and the geeko changes colour to notify of different situations. Of course Narayan is a hacker and not a great artist, so it didn't look great, but the idea was cool.
I saw them too, and I agree they fit the KDE look. However that shining green doesn't fit the GNOME look in my opinion, exactly as the huge Geeko in the gnome version of opensuse updater. It looks just out of place. I think it should be replaced, in GNOME only, by a bigger icon of the updater (the one used for zen-updater, with the world and the two arrows). Regards, A. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-ux+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-ux+help@opensuse.org
On Tue, 2007-05-22 at 16:46 +0200, Joerg Kress wrote:
Hello everyone!
NOTE: Cross-posted as this involves both teams, IMHO.
We have a need for icons for the updater applet for both GNOME and KDE. The current icons have certain limitations in areas of usability and accessibility. Please refer to bug 246157 [1] for an example.
I have made some proposals in the wiki [2]. One might also check the parent page [3], which also holds the current icons.
Currently we have 4 icons, based on a blue dot with a small label on the bottom right. Each label indicates a certain state:
* Red: Error occured * Yellow: Updates available * Striped(Yellow/Black): Checking for Updates * Green: No updates
We want to have another state: "Applying Updates", which could be merged with "Checking for updates" into "Updater working/Busy"
So, UX teams should verify which states need distinguishing from a usability perspective and artworkers should then find a usable and accessible solution.
Links: [1]: https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=246157 [2]: http://en.opensuse.org/Updater_applet/Icon_proposals [3]: http://en.opensuse.org/Updater_Applet
Hi Joerg,
I've already talked to the original author, Robert Lihm, but I'm happy
you bring this up.
Current Icons
-------------
The current icons are less than ideal on many levels. The color button
(as the 'unifying' element) is just noise, especially at small sizes,
which is what the default panel ships by default. The silhouette is
exactly the same. Pretty much the only differentiating factor is the
color. From usability perspective this is really bad.
Proposal
--------
The naming spec [1] defines some icon names very much appropriate for
our situation and we should aim to make use of themeability here.
Usability should have the upper hand on branding.
updates available - software-update-available
urgent updates - software-update-urgent
getting/applying updates - process-working
refreshing sources - network-receive
The standard theme icon lookup is described in the icon theme spec [2].
[1] http://standards.freedesktop.org/icon-naming-spec/icon-naming-spec-latest.ht...
[2] http://standards.freedesktop.org/icon-theme-spec/icon-theme-spec-latest.html
cheers
--
Jakub Steiner
Hi Jimmac! On Wed, 2007-05-23 at 20:36 +0200, Jakub Steiner wrote:
I've already talked to the original author, Robert Lihm, but I'm happy you bring this up. Glad, I can help ;-)
Current Icons ------------- The current icons are less than ideal on many levels. The color button (as the 'unifying' element) is just noise, especially at small sizes, which is what the default panel ships by default. The silhouette is exactly the same. Pretty much the only differentiating factor is the color. From usability perspective this is really bad.
Proposal -------- The naming spec [1] defines some icon names very much appropriate for our situation and we should aim to make use of themeability here. Usability should have the upper hand on branding. I'm totally with you on that. Jan already raised this issue in the TODO v 1.0 for the GNOME applet [1].
updates available - software-update-available urgent updates - software-update-urgent Not available yet. Just checked my directories and cvs upped tango. We should bring this up in tango-artists.
getting/applying updates - process-working Don't you think an animation is to much of an distraction? I'd prefer a static icon and using tooltips/popups to indicate details [2].
refreshing sources - network-receive This is a hard one. Your proposal might be to close to the nm-icon when connected by cable. My current preference (view-refresh) is to close to what we need for indicating the need for a reboot.
Maybe we should also consider a "merge" of refreshing and
getting/applying to one 'busy' and give additional info via tooltip.
[1] http://en.opensuse.org/GNOME_Updater_Applet
[2] http://en.opensuse.org/GNOME_Updater_Applet/Future_Plans
Cheers,
--
Jörg Kreß
On Thu, 2007-05-24 at 16:54 +0200, Joerg Kress wrote:
updates available - software-update-available urgent updates - software-update-urgent Not available yet. Just checked my directories and cvs upped tango. We should bring this up in tango-artists.
I will take care of those in tango icon theme (and eventually in gnome icon theme). I hope I can get Rodney to release 0.8.1 soonish.
getting/applying updates - process-working Don't you think an animation is to much of an distraction? I'd prefer a static icon and using tooltips/popups to indicate details [2].
refreshing sources - network-receive This is a hard one. Your proposal might be to close to the nm-icon when connected by cable. My current preference (view-refresh) is to close to what we need for indicating the need for a reboot.
Maybe we should also consider a "merge" of refreshing and getting/applying to one 'busy' and give additional info via tooltip.
On a second glance, I think the real message it gives here is that it's
doing something and it didn't die. The spinner sounds like a good
solution for both events.
If the refresh can trigger on its own, it may be a little obtrusive to
have an animated spinner. I would still consider this to be the best
solution, but I'm open to try something else for 'refreshing sources'.
cheers
--
Jakub Steiner
On Thursday 24 May 2007 20:16:55 Jakub Steiner wrote:
If the refresh can trigger on its own, it may be a little obtrusive to have an animated spinner. I would still consider this to be the best solution, but I'm open to try something else for 'refreshing sources'.
Also, the update process can take a long time - I'm with Jorg on this Will -- Will Stephenson Desktop Engineer Interfaces and Applications -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-ux+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-ux+help@opensuse.org
Hi, from a usability point of view I would minimize and simplify the use of icons. So I would suggest only three different icons: * software-update-available * software-update-urgent * software-update-busy software-update-busy would be used for applying updates and refreshing sources. I suggest using a different icon than process-working, becuase this icon is used for web browsers and file managers to show that the location is loading. In case of the update applet the icon is not referring to a loading application but shows some network activity. I think we all know that it is important to create simple, intuitive and easy distinguishable icons so I don`t have to explain that with any usability terms again :-) Enjoy, Martin -- Martin Schmidkunz User Experience Specialist martin.schmidkunz@novell.com +49 (0) 911 740 53-346 ------------------------------------- SUSE LINUX Products GmbH, GF: Markus Rex, HRB 16746 (AG Nürnberg) ------------------------------------- Novell, Inc. SUSE® Linux Enterprise 10 Your Linux is ready http://www.novell.com/linux -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-ux+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-ux+help@opensuse.org
participants (6)
-
Alberto Passalacqua -
Jakub Steiner -
Joerg Kress -
Martin Schlander -
Martin Schmidkunz -
Will Stephenson