More distinct icons, please...

[bartmoss]

Hi Guys,

Sorry to bother anybody with this, but the icons used on the forum to indicate new posts in threads etc are very very hard to distinguish for me. I am colorblind and to be honest they all look the same to me. :S

It's certainly not urgent, but if you ever work on the layout, could you please keep it in mind and maybe see if you can change the colors around a bit for greater contrast? Needless to say I'll volunteer as a guinea pig!

Thanks,
Nils

[jwbjerk]

Is there a FAQ or something that explains what they mean? I can see them, but i don't understand what they mean.

[RobA]

Hi Guys,

Sorry to bother anybody with this, but the icons used on the forum to indicate new posts in threads etc are very very hard to distinguish for me. I am colorblind and to be honest they all look the same to me. :S

It's certainly not urgent, but if you ever work on the layout, could you please keep it in mind and maybe see if you can change the colors around a bit for greater contrast? Needless to say I'll volunteer as a guinea pig!

Thanks,
Nils

We just set them up with the new forum and had run them past a colour-blind evaluator.

This is new posts:


This is no new posts:


In the forum list, they are new posts in forum:


No new posts in forum:


I can see the last two are close on the monitor I currently have. On a different monitor they were significantly different. Which are problematic?

-Rob A>

[RobA]

Is there a FAQ or something that explains what they mean? I can see them, but i don't understand what they mean.

Look at the bottom of the page when viewing a forum. There is a key.

-Rob A>

[Jaxilon]

I agree with you RobA regarding the last two icons. It would be nice if we could amplify the glow on the new post one so it is more than just the little circle in the middle. I usually just click into a thread anyway because half the time my icons don't seem to be correct anyway. For example, I know I just read the last message in a forum and click on the "Forum" button in the upper left corner only to see the icon indicating there are more to read there. So I go check it again and what do you know but there are no new posts.....not sure if that's a browser issue or what. I use Firefox 3.6.3

Anyway I would support that 3rd icon you list having an outer glow if someone can do that. If I have time I may even see if I can mock up what I'm dreaming of.

I just had to try

[Jaxilon]

Not sure how bad those first 2 look to a color blind person but maybe if we had a lightning bolt or a cracked glass look on the one that has new posts?

FYI - I'm just trying to be helpful and not endorsing or agreeing that anything needs to be changed. All I'm doing here is just avoiding some real work I need to go do..which I will go to after this post since I am out of ideas and can no longer use this as an excuse...dangit!

Feel free to use or abuse or ask for something else these are only quick mock ups and I'm sure some of the experts here can do better:

[jwbjerk]

This is new posts:


This is no new posts:

I'm not color-blind, but as i see it, the main issue here is that you have two icons, neither of which obviously has more emphasis than the other, and which might not be easy to distinguish if both weren't on the screen at the same time-- it's the same jewel, unless you observe it carefully, you wouldn't know if you are looking at a page of posts all of which you haven't seen, or all of which you had.
1) A brighter jewel, but one with less saturation
2) A darker jewel, but with more saturation
So both get about the same amount of emphasis in different ways

if for instance, the "unread" jewel was vibrant blue, and the read one was nearly grey, it would be intuitive which was which. For even greater usability, there would be some sort of difference in the form. Lots of other ways to make the distinction more obvious are possible too...
thread.png



Those forum icons are on my screen extremely close.

Look at the bottom of the page when viewing a forum. There is a key.

Thanks.

[RobA]

I'm not color-blind, but as i see it, the main issue here is that you have two icons, neither of which obviously has more emphasis than the other, and which might not be easy to distinguish if both weren't on the screen at the same time-- it's the same jewel, unless you observe it carefully, you wouldn't know if you are looking at a page of posts all of which you haven't seen, or all of which you had.
1) A brighter jewel, but one with less saturation
2) A darker jewel, but with more saturation
So both get about the same amount of emphasis in different ways

if for instance, the "unread" jewel was vibrant blue, and the read one was nearly grey, it would be intuitive which was which. For even greater usability, there would be some sort of difference in the form. Lots of other ways to make the distinction more obvious are possible too...
thread.png



Those forum icons are on my screen extremely close.



Thanks.

Well.... There is already a desaturated gem for deleted threads, so we don't want to go too desaturated. Could beef up the white outer glow if that would help.

@Jaxilon - They never seem to match the contents for me either.... I usually just use the "New Posts" link.

-Rob A>

[Talroth]

Rather than just changing the colour of the Icon, why not add something like a gold star in the upper left for new posts, and a red X in the bottom right for no new posts? As they are now it is annoyingly hard to tell the two apart at a quick glance. Personally I would go so far as to add completely different icons.

[a2area]

I have color issues as well.. but mostly reds and greens. The current icons don't look the same color to me but i think the differences between the two are very subtle, probably for the sake of keeping the side design streamlined. The problem is that the icons tend to not really "do their job". Personally i don't even look at them but i'm not sure if this is the reason. A smart solution wouldn't be unwelcome from this corner... sorry i don't have any bright ideas to contribute at the moment though (0: