icons in action!

Harriet Truscott harriet at caret.cam.ac.uk
Tue Jul 10 15:30:19 UTC 2007


I'm keen that the default skins we go with do include the design features
that members of the community have found increase usability - things such as
tabs that look like tabs, for example. 

We use the plain tofu Sakai skin at Cambridge, and we've been making a
preliminary list of issues that we think could be resolved with improvements
to the skin itself: 

https://camtools.caret.cam.ac.uk/access/wiki/site/c50c4b08-d361-4ccc-00e1-98
6782b05aef/design/ui/css.html 

(This is in our own Sakai wiki, so sadly not editable or commentable by
people)

Harriet

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Daphne Ogle [mailto:daphne at media.berkeley.edu] 
> Sent: 09 July 2007 20:15
> To: ieb at tfd.co.uk
> Cc: Gonzalo Silverio; Sean Mehan; John Norman; Sakai Dev; 
> fluid-work at fluidproject.org; Sakai UI UI
> Subject: Re: icons in action!
> 
> I'm adding the UI list to the conversation (btw -- we 
> probably shouldn't assume the UI community reads all the dev 
> list emails...at least not at the same level as the UI list).
> 
> This is a great idea!  I'm happy to help however I can.  From 
> a design standpoint it seems like you most need the skills of 
> visual and/or graphic designers and UI developers.  
> Unfortunately, Seamus, who did our new skin at Berkeley is 
> heading back to Ireland in 2  
> weeks so we are bit lacking in the visual design respect right now.   
> Let me know how I can help though.
> 
> -Daphne
> 
> On Jul 9, 2007, at 12:56 AM, Ian Boston wrote:
> 
> > Gonzalo,
> > This sounds excelent, I would be happy to implement anything you 
> > needed in the portal code if you could lead the effort. It 
> might also 
> > be good to pull resource from the fluid members with exeperties, if 
> > the were willing and you thought it a good idea.
> >
> > Ian
> >
> > Sent from my Pearl, sorry about the briefness and spelling!
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Gonzalo Silverio <gsilver at umich.edu>
> >
> > Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2007 10:29:33
> > To:"Sean Mehan" <sean at smo.uhi.ac.uk>
> > Cc:"John Norman" <john at caret.cam.ac.uk>,"Sakai Dev" <sakai- 
> > dev at collab.sakaiproject.org>
> > Subject: Re: icons in action!
> >
> >
> > I would be happy to be a part of this work:
> >
> > 1) create a more pleasing OOTB skin
> > 2) create a wireframe skin for customization, perhaps 2 
> more example 
> > skins
> > 3) supporting documentation (media, text)
> >
> > For 1) the choice is to start on the basis of an existing 
> one - such 
> > as the NYU skin - if that is OK with that institution . See:
> >
> > https://collab.sakaiproject.org/access/content/attachment/
> > cc9cb174-7543-48b8-80d8-fc6e80c77b2b/nyu_icons.png
> >
> > Or start from scratch - but with a design. A designer would 
> be needed 
> > for that.
> >
> > The portal markup is in pretty good shape but may need some changes 
> > for 2.5 - feedback on this is needed. The documentation is 
> way overdue 
> > for a major overhaul - feedback, keystrokes and actors 
> needed there as 
> > well.
> >
> > Am assuming this does not go very deep into the tools.
> >
> > So need:
> >
> > - A designer
> > - User testing, evaluation
> > - Markup mavens with strong opinions
> > - Documentation writing, webcast scripting and acting.
> >
> > - Gonzalo
> >
> >
> > On Jul 8, 2007, at 9:20 AM, Sean Mehan wrote:
> >
> >> ++1 on this, i.e., shipping with a couple of skins by default.
> >> Also, in
> >> this vein, a webcast by some plucky designer showing how they went 
> >> from
> >> skin1 to skin2 in design terms, i.e., demonstrating how 
> EASY it is to 
> >> shift skins in sakai, perhaps with another bit at the end of said 
> >> webcast demonstrating how to switch skins.
> >>
> >>
> >> regards,
> >> sean
> >>
> >>
> >> <quote who="John Norman">
> >>> I agree with Chuck. Perhaps is makes sense to consider an 
> >>> aesthetically pleasing default skin _and_ a basic skin as 
> a starting 
> >>> point for skin customisation (maybe even one that somehow 
> discloses 
> >>> the customisation options).
> >>>
> >>> John
> >>>
> >>> On 8 Jul 2007, at 13:29, Charles Severance wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> A couple of comments about the icons and the skin.
> >>>>
> >>>> - I agree with Glenn and Vivie about the current trunk 
> ugliness and 
> >>>> the icons on the front page not looking very nifty.  If 
> we cannot 
> >>>> make it look better, we should simply disable the icons and let 
> >>>> people put them back in their own skins - currently I like the 
> >>>> default being on so we know there is work to do :)
> >>>>
> >>>> - I agree that the out of the box skin should be designed to be 
> >>>> extensible - it should be cleanly implemented and 
> well-documented 
> >>>> to allow modification.
> >>>>
> >>>> - I disagree with the implication that we should never 
> ship with a 
> >>>> skin which shows the icons.  That somehow the default 
> skin needs to 
> >>>> be bare bones.  If we can come up with a cleanly 
> implemented, well- 
> >>>> documented, easily extended, skin that uses the icons and looks 
> >>>> great out of the box - then we should consider it.
> >>>>
> >>>> The reason is that people looking at Sakai OOTB - form opinions 
> >>>> about the product - and if the skin continues to be so minimal - 
> >>>> people will get the wrong impression about the fit and polish of 
> >>>> the product.  It is sad but true, but the visual impact of the 
> >>>> default skin means a lot to a *lot* of people - sad sad 
> sad but oh 
> >>>> so true.
> >>>>
> >>>> So I would like to keep an open mind about a future default skin 
> >>>> that does include the icons - with the agreement that 
> the current 
> >>>> state of icons is most easily fixed by turning off the 
> icons OOTB - 
> >>>> or perhaps simply disabling the "iframe/web content icon".
> >>>>
> >>>> Charles Severance
> >>>> csev at umich.edu www.dr-chuck.com
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> On Jul 7, 2007, at 2:51 PM, Vivie Sinou wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> I sure hope this doesn't pop up in Sakai OOTB in a 
> future release
> >>>>> - not as
> >>>>> the only skin option, at any rate.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> A couple of years ago, a group worked very hard to create a 
> >>>>> generic / vanilla-flavor skin that is easy to customize 
> for local 
> >>>>> brands / implementations. Please keep a simple, vanilla 
> skin for 
> >>>>> Sakai OOTB, and if folks (whoever) think that another 
> with icons 
> >>>>> and additional styles will appeal to others, offer a secondary 
> >>>>> option.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Thanks,
> >>>>> Vivie
> >>>>>
> >>>>>> -----Original Message-----
> >>>>>> From: Glenn R. Golden [mailto:ggolden at umich.edu]
> >>>>>> Sent: Saturday, July 07, 2007 11:00 AM
> >>>>>> To: Sakai Dev
> >>>>>> Subject: icons in action!
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Does anyone else think that this (the icons on the 
> gateway page 
> >>>>>> in the trunk) looks sort of silly?  (follow the link 
> below to see 
> >>>>>> that attached image)
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> I'm not sure which of the following contributes mostly to this:
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> - the formatting
> >>>>>> - the redundancy
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> - Glenn
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Glenn R. Golden
> >>>>>> Software Architect, University Of Michigan ggolden at umich.edu
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> [see attachment: "unknown.html", size: 1447 bytes]
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> [see attachment: "pastedGraphic.png", size: 25922 bytes]
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Attachments:
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> unknown.html
> >>>>>> https://collab.sakaiproject.org/access/content/attachment/9ba4
> >>>>>> 4221-f9e2-42c2-000b-8851c3a68be4/unknown.html
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> pastedGraphic.png
> >>>>>> https://collab.sakaiproject.org/access/content/attachment/07ce
> >>>>>> 7142-5966-4caa-8072-c67629e4e3c6/pastedGraphic.png
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> ----------------------
> >>>>>> This automatic notification message was sent by Sakai Collab
> >>>>>> (https://collab.sakaiproject.org/portal) from the DG:
> >>>>>> Development (a.k.a. sakai-dev) site.
> >>>>>> You can modify how you receive notifications at My Workspace
> >>>>>>> Preferences.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> ----------------------
> >>>>> This automatic notification message was sent by Sakai Collab
> >>>>> (https://collab.sakaiproject.org/portal) from the DG: 
> Development 
> >>>>> (a.k.a. sakai-dev) site.
> >>>>> You can modify how you receive notifications at My Workspace > 
> >>>>> Preferences.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> [see attachment: "message0.html", size: 13563 bytes]
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Attachments:
> >>>>
> >>>> message0.html
> >>>> 
> https://collab.sakaiproject.org/access/content/attachment/22e300d3-
> >>>> d4f4-4259-809a-ddb2e07fd24d/message0.html
> >>>>
> >>>> ----------------------
> >>>> This automatic notification message was sent by Sakai Collab
> >>>> (https://collab.sakaiproject.org/portal) from the DG: 
> Development 
> >>>> (a.k.a. sakai-dev) site.
> >>>> You can modify how you receive notifications at My Workspace > 
> >>>> Preferences.
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>> ----------------------
> >>> This automatic notification message was sent by Sakai Collab
> >>> (https://collab.sakaiproject.org/portal) from the DG: Development 
> >>> (a.k.a.
> >>> sakai-dev) site.
> >>> You can modify how you receive notifications at My Workspace > 
> >>> Preferences.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Sean Mehan
> >> Head of e-Frameworks
> >> Learning and Information Services
> >> UHI
> >>
> >> ----------------------
> >> This automatic notification message was sent by Sakai Collab
> >> (https://collab.sakaiproject.org/portal) from the DG: Development 
> >> (a.k.a. sakai-dev) site.
> >> You can modify how you receive notifications at My Workspace > 
> >> Preferences.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > - Gonzalo
> >
> > ---------------------------
> >
> >
> > ----------------------
> > This automatic notification message was sent by Sakai Collab
> > (https://collab.sakaiproject.org/portal) from the DG: Development 
> > (a.k.a. sakai-dev) site.
> > You can modify how you receive notifications at My Workspace > 
> > Preferences.
> >
> > ----------------------
> > This automatic notification message was sent by Sakai Collab
> > (https://collab.sakaiproject.org/portal) from the DG: Development 
> > (a.k.a. sakai-dev) site.
> > You can modify how you receive notifications at My Workspace > 
> > Preferences.
> >
> 
> Daphne Ogle
> Senior Interaction Designer
> University of California, Berkeley
> Educational Technology Services
> daphne at media.berkeley.edu
> cell (510)847-0308
> 
> 
> 
> [see attachment: "message0.html", size: 36165 bytes]
> 
> 
> Attachments:
> 
> message0.html
> https://collab.sakaiproject.org/access/content/attachment/0dc9
> 73cb-b41e-42dc-00f6-f74c6d026663/message0.html
> 
> ----------------------
> This automatic notification message was sent by Sakai Collab 
> (https://collab.sakaiproject.org/portal) from the DG: 
> Development (a.k.a. sakai-dev) site.
> You can modify how you receive notifications at My Workspace 
> > Preferences.
> 
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition. 
> Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.10.2/893 - Release 
> Date: 09/07/2007 17:22
>  
> 

No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition. 
Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.10.2/893 - Release Date: 09/07/2007
17:22
 




More information about the fluid-work mailing list