[p2pu-dev] UI commentary for new design

[B. Maura Townsend]

Unfortunately, this is about the third invitation to participate that
I've received. :) I am participating, but I think it's getting lost.

https://groups.google.com/d/topic/p2pu-dev/JgsFkDaZIIs/discussion is
where I wrote about issues with the current site and was invited to
weigh in on the UI design and accessibility/usability (two different
but related issues). When I did that though, I got a sort of brush off
message indicating that what I was saying was seen as "already
implemented." See comments:
http://wiki.p2pu.org/w/page/32426155/New+website+design+(after-Techsprint)

Also, I've been trying to find where to log reviews of design issues,
or discuss them, but everything so far seems code related, and not at
all UI related. I can't seem to find any discussion of the UI or look
& feel. Searching chatlogs and this list (both versions) brings me up
empty, no matter how I phrase it.

Perhaps part of the problem is that I am not a coder, really, at all.
I'm a visual designer with human factors experience. That's the POV I
can bring to this, but it seems there is nowhere to put it.

BMT


On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 9:29 AM, Rebecca Kahn <bekka.kahn at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi BMT
>
> I'm not really knowledgeable enough to comment on the UI issues you raise,
> but I might be able to give some clarity on your concerns about where to
> post these ideas and the fact that you've received very little feedback.
>
> P2PU is, at the very heart of things, a community built on give-and-take;
> the vast majority of people are volunteers, and the only way the community
> and the project can survive is because amazing people put in as much time
> and effort as they can.
>
> We do have a small group of committed volunteers working on the UI. But they
> are all volunteers, and doing this in their spare time, out of passion for
> the project. From your mail, I suspect that you might be willing to help out
> in this way as well, and we'd like to welcome you to the community, and
> thank you for your effort and enthusiasm so far.
>
> As a group that is principally volunteer-driven, we've found that the
> community tend to respond to issues that they feel most strongly about - so
> a small group of people might cluster around a certain issue, offer to help
> out with any fixes or tasks, and generally get things done that way. It's a
> sort of "group filter" that ensures that issues that the community feel are
> most pressing get tended to first. Operating on the principle of rough
> consensus (ie: not everyone will always agree, but those who do have
> opinions will pipe up, and decisions are made by those who care) we tend to
> also take slightly longer to get to issues than might otherwise happen in a
> bigger, more commercially oriented organisation.
>
> We do have some developers who are paid for their time and work, but they
> generally operate on the basis of x amount of hours per month, and tend to
> triage the really urgent issues, and when their time is up every month, they
> step back, and any issues left will be dealt with in the following month.
> Needless to say, with the launch of the courses, this month has been really
> busy.  I think it's also fair to say that we're all a bit stunned by the
> volume of response we've had this cycle, and are trying (not always
> successfully) to keep up with it.
>
> Generally, people who have skills are happy to devote some of their time and
> the community is often a conduit for this, so if people ask for help, those
> who can contribute generally will do so. The dev list is a good place to ask
> for this kind of support.
>
> I suppose what I'm getting at is this: if you and any other people in the
> community are concerned about the UI, and have the skills, time or
> inclination to help out with this, it would be wonderful. Please don't take
> the lack of response as an indication that nobody cares - I think everyone
> is just busy filtering the large amount of mail coming through at the
> moment, and people who do share your concerns will come forward, if you ask
> for specific help with stuff. Jump in, and get your feet wet!
>
> We haven't been very good at communicating the reciprocal nature of P2PU to
> everyone who joins the community, but we do hope that people understand this
> dynamic and appreciate that it is all part of the great experiment that is
> P2PU! Most of the time, we just try stuff out and see if it works. Sometimes
> we get lucky and it does.
>
> I hope this answers some of your questions - and please don't be discouraged
> - the more people in the community who care about the project the better.
> Also, I'd love to hear what other people on this list think about this
>
> All the best
> Bekka
>
>
> On 28 January 2011 16:59, B. Maura Townsend <jauncourt at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I put a comment on the new mockup seen at http://p2pu.brianloves.it/
>> in the wiki, under the new design's page, and it seems that it's not
>> really the best place to discuss UI issues, as I got brushed off.
>>
>> My first comment was this (I was keeping it short because of the venue):
>>
>> "Can we try for better contrast in the menus? Also, perhaps swapping
>> the background color and text color when highlighted would be better,
>> usability-wise."
>>
>> Unfortunately, this was interpreted as being reference to the severe
>> contrast issues that I and a number of others have noticed with the
>> current site's styles.
>>
>> A more in-depth analysis of the contrast issues with the current
>> revision of the new design mockup :
>>
>> "The higher contrast of the black pinstripe texture against the white
>> background draws the eye away from the lower contrast menuing, even if
>> it is not negatively affecting the main content. Would it be possible
>> to make the black pinstripe lower contrast? Perhaps a gray about the
>> current color of the un-highlighted menu text? That would increase the
>> usability without lowering the overall visual impact.
>>
>> "The menus at the top are fairly low contrast, light bluish gray
>> against white, with the eye drawn away by the high-contrast
>> background.The highlight is good, with decent contrast, though I'm
>> worried about accessibility for colorblind users. The text in this
>> menu should really be at least as dark a gray as the text in the
>> captions shown in the main content areas.
>>
>> "The menus at the bottom are low contrast unless highlighted, medium
>> gray on medium-luminance colors. The highlight is so subtle as to be
>> lost on many viewers. I'd propose making the text darker on these
>> menus and making the highlight a swap of text and background color. I
>> realize that this is the same shade as the dark gray in the content
>> areas, but that is negated by the medium-luminance background color
>> bars."
>>
>> I'm concerned that I may not be commenting in the correct venue. Is
>> there a UI design team? Is there a specific venue for discussion of
>> the new UI? I know there isn't really anyone looking at usability
>> besides myself and one or two others, and I've seen no comments from
>> them.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> BMT
>> _______________________________________________
>> p2pu-dev mailing list
>> p2pu-dev at lists.p2pu.org
>> http://lists.p2pu.org/mailman/listinfo/p2pu-dev
>
>
>
> --
> Rebecca Kahn
> Skype: rebekahn
>
>
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