[sldev] What is the point of firstlook and giving feedback to LL

[Matthew Dowd]

Sorry, this post is harsh, negative, and will offend someone in the UI team, I've no doubt but it needs to be said!
 
I see that Dazzle is going the same way as the Communicator window fiasco. Namely that LL release a firstlook, and then completely ignore the feedback, release the feature almost exactly as in the firstlook client and are then surprised by the negative feedback, and spend the next six months drip feeding small tweaks in an attempt to improve the mistake.
 
OK, so with both the communicate window and dazzle there are a number of "i hate it please switch back" comments, but there were and are a number of comments which quite clearly set out some of the real issues, and even suggest solutions, and yet are totally ignored.
 
There is another similarity between Dazzle and the Communicate window - whoever is behind the design of these seems to forget the raison d'etre of SL. The focus of attention in SL should be on the 3D world, not on the UI. Both the communicate and dazzle distract the attention from the 3D world onto the UI. This may hurt the egos of the UI team but a successful UI for an SL client should be one which the user doesn't notice, and just uses!
 
If LL had actually bothered to listen to the feedback on the firstlook client from users they would have noticed two major points:
 
i) that what was not needed was a new colour theme but more some level of easy (i.e. not hacking XML files) control over the colours. This is captured in jira as https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-5059 namely the ability to switch skins from within the client, and include the current colourisation as one of the default skins included with the client
 
ii) that the new scheme far from being "more accessible and pleasing", actually causes eye strain. This is also captured in jira, had anyone from the UI team bothered to check, as https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-5080 , and in there one of the comments provides medical and documentary evidence why the scheme chosen by LL is a potential health risk and accessibility problem! 
 
Dazzle should not have got into an RC without at least one of these *major* issues being addressed. Had both been addressed, you might have managed a blog post which generated overwhelming postive responses on the blog comments and forums, whereas by ignoring both of these,  LL has once again successfully snatched disaster from the jaws of victory!
 
Matthew
 
 
 
 
 
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