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

[Aimee Walton]

On Apr 10, 2008, at 16:20, Henri Beauchamp wrote:
> On Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:47:07 +0000, Matthew Dowd wrote:
>
>> 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!
>
> Frankly, I am curious to see any "evidence" about the health
> issue, but I agree wholeheartedly that beside being distracting
> to the eye, Dazzle's UI is definitely going against accessibility
> basics.

http://www.fast-consulting.com/color/cp_toc.htm
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4WxYmAzo9uYC

My full comments on the issue, as posted on VWR-5080, are attached  
below, sorry, they're a bit long. This should really be old hat to  
anyone that's studied HCI to even a basic level, which I know people  
on the UI team are well beyond in qualifications, so it is puzzling  
how it ever got this far.

I think the trouble is, no disrespect intended, they have come from  
web and desktop application design, and what works well in those  
paradigms isn't directly applicable in a virtual world environment  
without some careful reinterpretation of the relationships between  
elements.

Aimee.

Aimee Trescothick - 08/Mar/08 06:02 PM
>
> I've been meaning to get to Ben's office hours but haven't been  
> able to make it yet, so I'll document this stuff here and try and  
> follow up in person later.
>
> Beyond very mild myopia I have no vision problems, however I for  
> one can't use Dazzle at all without getting headaches, and I'm told  
> I'm not alone. The health issues that must be considered when  
> designing user interfaces are nothing new and are well documented.  
> People have been studying this stuff since at least the 1950s, and  
> while computer interfaces may have evolved the human vision system  
> has not.
>
> There are two main issues here, the chosen colour combinations, and  
> the contrast between the world environment and the user interface.
>
> 1) Colour Selection
>
> It is well known that blue text on a blue background is hard to  
> read and causes eyestrain. Just do a Google search for "blue text  
> on a blue background" if you don't believe me. This is in fact a  
> commonly exploited trick for hiding the small print on contracts,  
> relying on the fact that the human eye focuses blue in front of the  
> retina rather than on its surface, causing blue to fade into the  
> background. Where the existing interface does use blue text, it's  
> counterbalanced with a black or grey background of sufficient  
> contrast for it not to be a big problem.
>
> 2) Environmental Contrast
>
> This is the big one, and also well documented; there is however a  
> trip-wire here when designing virtual world interfaces. The  
> literature talks about two types of contrast firstly between the  
> screen and the room, and secondly between the user interface  
> elements, windows etc. and the screen background. However in a  
> virtual world the priority is reversed; the primary focus is the  
> world environment, the UI windows are the background information  
> even though they sit on top of it. During Second Life night time,  
> it makes sense to reduce the light level in your room to prevent  
> eyestrain, however with Dazzle this now makes it worse. While  
> looking at in world content the eye is prevented from adapting to  
> the light level of what you are focusing on by the bright UI  
> elements in your peripheral vision. In some ways a greater analogue  
> exists with something like car instrumentation, rather than with  
> existing computer UIs; most car manufacturers now provide a dimmer  
> to allow the driver to adjust the dashboard illumination both for  
> comfort and so as not to affect their night vision.
>
> This is not just aesthetics, there are definite QA issues here that  
> need to be addressed in an objective fashion, rather that just  
> asking "does it look cool?" (personally I think the look of Dazzle  
> is somewhere about 1995). When assessing a user interface you need  
> to see it from the point of view of the user. While the designers  
> are probably sat in a typical office environment with light levels  
> in excess of 500-1000 lux, the majority of users are sat at home  
> with typical light levels around 50-100 lux. Go in to the office at  
> night, turn the lights off and then see how comfortable it is to use.
>
> While the existing colour scheme may not be considered particularly  
> exciting or "cool", it is in fact pretty good from a health point  
> of view, especially for those of us that work in world for extended  
> periods and during RL night. Its neutral colour scheme ensures a  
> safe contrast level during both SL day and night. I can understand  
> the fact that the Second Life viewer is seen as a product and there  
> is a perceived need to connect with new users, using a bright  
> engaging UI as a hook, but that's no good when your retention rate  
> drops due to increased levels of user fatigue. The fact is the  
> product is the world itself, a bright and busy UI will just detract  
> from that.
>
> There is a tendency among UI designers generally to think it's all  
> about the UI elements and making them look great and eye-catching  
> (it's all right there in the name - Dazzle), I'm sorry, but that's  
> just plain wrong. A UI should be as seamless and transparent to the  
> user as possible, it is the background to the content, not the  
> other way round. The way forward is to provide a user interface  
> that adapts and grows with the user, providing more visible obvious  
> help and hand-holding to the new user while fading into the  
> background for the experienced resident, allowing the large buttons  
> with text across the bottom to be reduced to an icon palette in the  
> corner for example, and first and foremost to allow the user to  
> choose a colour scheme that suits them and their local environment.
>
> I didn't set out to write an academic paper on ergonomics and  
> virtual environments (though if someone wants to give me a research  
> grant ... :) If you've read this far, I'm impressed, if you go and  
> read the references at the end, I'll be even more impressed :) I  
> don't want to be a fly in the ointment, I'm not writing this to be  
> obstructive, Please don't dismiss this as another "Linden Lab never  
> get anything right" or "I'm afraid of change" rant. I am  
> enthusiastic and passionate about Second Life and it's future, I  
> can see that there is a recognition of past mistakes and a desire  
> to change things for the better within the Lab, and I am  
> contributing this to help, not hinder.
>
> Most things that come up on JIRA are bugs and irritations that in  
> the grand scheme of things don't really matter (not to belittle  
> anyone's pet issue ;) but this is about peoples health. I'm not  
> saying my opinion means any more than anyone else's, but many  
> people are going to be blind to the potential consequences of  
> getting this wrong, and will just look at Dazzle and go "Ooooh,  
> shiny, me like!", then wonder why they're getting more migraines  
> than they used to without making the connection.
>
>
> References
>
> http://www.fast-consulting.com/color/cp_toc.htm If you read nothing  
> else, read this. Lots of useful information and a comprehensive  
> list of references.
>
> Ergonomics in Computerized Offices By E. Grandjean published by CRC  
> Press. Latest edition is I think 2002, but there's a preview of the  
> 1987 edition online at http://books.google.co.uk/books? 
> id=4WxYmAzo9uYC&printsec=frontcover