[p2pu-dev] UI commentary for new design

Jessy Kate jessy.cowansharp at gmail.com
Fri Jan 28 19:15:14 UTC 2011


++ for using github issues for features/suggestions/bugs on lernanta. it
will also provide a great log of any conversations.

jessy

On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 2:08 PM, Brian Brennan <brianloveswords at gmail.com>wrote:

> Hey,
>
> João is probably the guy to talk to about UI/UX concerns. I'm also
> interested in this discussion since I will, for the most part, be the one
> implementing the UI in code.
>
> I'm coming from a developer perspective, but I think the best place for me
> to find issues regarding UI/UX implementation would be either the lernanta
> issues queue – https://github.com/p2pu/lernanta/issues. UI/UX issues can
> be entered and tagged as such, and we can use the commenting system to have
> a discussion about the proposed changes.
>
> It's another place to create an account, which I know is not ideal, but for
> me I think it makes the most sense. We also get an email every time an issue
> is updated/created, so it hopefully we can be more responsive to it.
>
> Jessy/Stian/John – what do you think about using the github issues for
> this?
> Brian
>
>
>
> On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 1:03 PM, B. Maura Townsend <jauncourt at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> 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)<http://wiki.p2pu.org/w/page/32426155/New+website+design+%28after-Techsprint%29>
>>
>> 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
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > p2pu-dev mailing list
>> > p2pu-dev at lists.p2pu.org
>> > http://lists.p2pu.org/mailman/listinfo/p2pu-dev
>> >
>> >
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>>
>
>
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>


-- 
Jessy Cowan-Sharp
http://jessykate.com
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