Alexander
Mon Jul 19 03:27:10 CDT 2004
Well, this is already gone too far from my area of experience :). I can see
your points and agree with most of them.
> You have come dangerously close to
> saying that what they have done is the
> best because that is what they have done. ;-)
Not at all. I'm saying that what they have done is the best because I *feel*
so. I can try and put some theoretical backgrounds to this but it would look
ridiculous since I'm not proficient in this area (psychology in general and
usability in particular). However, from user point of view, I *feel* that
blue is ok for this screen. For me it is a best argument. Isn't usability
all (well, almost) about that user feels ok with (G)UI? :)
As for colors, here's my color-emotion chart. Think it's quite standard.
Status OK/operation completed OK - Green
Information - Blue
Warning - Yellow
Error - Red
Another thing that must be taken in consideration is that we are talking
about background of UI element. It does not have to comply with chart above
for whole UI element to give correct emotion feeling. Background is more
static part of UI than other elements.
Al.
P.S. Did I forget to <grin>?
"Al Dunbar [MS-MVP]" <alan-no-drub-spam@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ubAceVObEHA.4092@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
>
> "Alexander Suhovey" <asuhovey@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:OC2jQo4aEHA.2812@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> >
> > "Al Dunbar [MS-MVP]" <alan-no-drub-spam@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > news:OSu1XZ4aEHA.556@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> > >
> > > "Alexander Suhovey" <asuhovey@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > > news:e9DeRV3aEHA.3352@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> > > > Can't say I completely agree that red is more appropriate color for
> > > (B)SOD.
> > > > This screen informs user that system encountered some errors and
stop
> > > > operations to prevent data loss plus some info on errors. It is
> > obviously
> > > > informational post-factum window. STOP sign says "You, Stop Right
Here
> > or
> > > > Else!" while stop window says "The system has stopped all operatons
> > > because
> > > > of [some info]".
> > >
> > > That is a cogent explanation of the fallacy of the argument I put
> forward
> > > for changing the colour of (B)SOD's from blue to red. But I'll bet you
> do
> > > not have any similar logic that explains why blue is an intrinsically
> > better
> > > colour for this function.
> >
> > You bet :)
> > Did you see *any* red-grounded/based UI elements (excluding icons or
> > non-default themes which obviously not the case) in MS OSes?
>
> No, but then, a stop-screen is supposed to be something somewhat different
> in nature from a dialog box - in fact it *must* be as it usually means the
> o/s is not fully functional, and likely no longer capable of displaying a
> GUI dialog box.
>
> > Ask MS's (or any) GUI usability team for this. Or marketing :))
>
> Actually, I was looking for a more absolute answer, or one based on what
is
> most effective for the user, rather than just what MS thinks. You have
come
> dangerously close to saying that what they have done is the best because
> that is what they have done. ;-)
>
> Regarding usability issues in general, since stop-screens should not be
> displayed that often, I do not think that they necessarily need the same
> usability standards as those screens we work with day in and day out. In
> fact, they already aren't, as they contain none of the other common GUI
> elements, cannot be re-sized, cannot be cut-and-pasted into a file for
later
> reference, etc.
>
> The main issue is to alert the user that there is an exceptional problem
and
> explain what should be done about it.
>
> I will admit that RED might not indeed be the best background colour, but
I
> am not convinced that BLUE is therefore the best. What about green or
cyan?
>
> > >
> > > In fact, I suspect that Ray and I have both been treating this aspect
of
> > the
> > > thread in a somewhat humourous vein, which seems to have been lost on
at
> > > least one of the other readers here ;-)
> >
> > Uh..."Sence of humor"? Where's my dictionary?.. Ah, yes I have a sence
of
> > some humor in this thread :))
>
> Whew! that's a relief!.
>
> /Al
>
>