[p2pu-dev] UI commentary for new design

John Britton public at johndbritton.com
Fri Jan 28 19:38:29 UTC 2011


+1 Github issues queue.

The design was made by Aleks and Joao with input from the community and we
decided to move on implementing it in it's current state because it is good
'enough' and a huge improvement from what we currently have. I definitely
agree with Stian, we're not dead set on keeping the design this way forever.
We're currently working on cutting the design and putting the code out there
for people to help with.

I'm also struggling to get new people involved more efficiently, it's not
easy to get people up to speed on everything. We really appreciate the input
and want you here!

Cheers,
John Britton
--
contact info:
http://www.johndbritton.com
@johndbritton - http://twitter.com/johndbritton


2011/1/28 João Antonio de Menezes Neto <tonyhomes at gmail.com>

> Hello again Maura,
>
> Thanks for sharing your opinion with us. As Becca commented, we're
> volunteers for the love of it, and full-time dedication (unfortunately)
> isn't possible. I'm the one who told you that these issues "were already
> solved" because we had a specific discussion about contrast in the designs a
> month ago, and we defined some changes (having the background as #555
> instead of #333, for instance). I demoed this alteration in a .PNG file you
> can find browsing our old Google Dev Group.
>
> I'd just ask you some patience in this question as Brian Brennan has
> finished the HTML/CSS not even a week ago; so, as Stian commented, there are
> a lot of improvements to come. I'm a Visual Designer myself and I'd really
> love to work more with you on the new version of the site.
>
>
> []'s
> João
>
> 2011/1/28 B. Maura Townsend <jauncourt at gmail.com>
>
> 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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