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Previous: Misuse of "literally" | Main | Next: Gas pump instructions
February 9, 2006 12:03 AM
Broken: Flight Tracker dashboard widget
Seth Falcon points out:
The color scheme used in the flight tracker widget in OS X Tiger's dashboard is broken.
They use dark grey for water and light blue for land. That is opposite of what most people are used to, which is that when you look at a map, blue signifies water.
I keep looking at the map and wondering, "what country is that?!"
That flight tracker is a piece of junk anyway. If you select an airline, it doesn't narrow the arrival and departure cities at all. So you pick some domestic carrier and still all the flights from Azerbaijan must be sorted through in the popup. Also, there are ten million entries in each popup. That is sucky.
Come on! While it's always easy to say the user is broken and should know better, I do not accept the premise that every user interface should be dumbed down to the lowest common denominator. If it takes you more than half a second to recognize the general shapes of continents, I can't fathom how you can function in normal society.
This could not be more broken-I find it funny that the map is "mapped" incorrectly, visual mapping is imperative to communicating in diagrams- and this is a completely broke-ass map.
Blue is the universal color for water in maps.
This map isn't that hard to figure out, but you shouldn't have to spend the time. Definately a broken color scheme.
I took some kind of intelligence test once where they showed you an obscure image. It turns out it was an upside-down picture of North America or Spain or something, but they switched the colors so that land was blue. It was a bit harder to figure out than you'd imagine.
Very broken, especially considering how easy it would be to fix. Stop trying to look ultra-sleek and techno-cool by making everything grayish-blue, just show me the colors I'm familiar with.
Ron, some of us need more help than others, and if it doesn't cost anything, then why not give it to them?
Every user interface should be as easy to understand as possible without sacrificing functionality. Only when dumbing down starts to intrude on functionality is there even a question.
People, it you think the colour schemes in OS X is broken - check out some of the windouhs program schemes.
If it weren't for the flight info on the left side, I would have figured the image to be a Rorshach test.
Pat -- It surprises me that I am very much in the minority in my opinion of this color scheme. I apparently read maps based more on light/dark contrast than any particular color scheme, and I assumed others did as well.
My complaint is more directed toward the general "everyone better make everything as easy as possible for me because any exercise of thought or effort on my part is outrageous" attitude prevalent in our (US) culture. Taken to its extreme, this train of thought is the cause of ludicrous civil suits -- the one against McDonald's for making people fat, for example, or the prison inmate a couple of years ago who sued for satellite television and won.
I'm not saying little things like this should be hard, but there has GOT to be some threshold below which it is not the programmer's fault for your inability to interface with the program properly. I can't imagine setting that threshold any lower than assuming the grown, educated people using this device will be able to look at a map and recognize the seven continents of the planet Earth, whether said map is done up in blue and grey or white and blue or ascii symbols.
I agree with Ron. Everything in this world is set to minimize effort, which is why you end up with people that can't distinguish the US from the Atlantic. Also, it isn't that hard to distinguish water from land. All you have to consider is that the aircraft took off from one of the blue areas. Commercial aircraft don't take off from water. anymore...
If you can't figure that out within a second, I'd find it quite amusing to see you try to make it to downtown Houston via the I-45...
Another thing: Prisoners have it too good. Some of them have a better life than most good citizens. Shelter, food, etc... Law abiding hobos don't get that and despicable criminals do? broken. Pushing for satelite TV, as Ron said, and winning indicates a flaw in the justice system's thinkers.
If you can't distinguish basic shapes like those of the 7 continents you probably can't even count up to IQ number. One... one... one... waz afte da
Seriously how dumb are you?! Most people outside of america can recognise other countries without needing them in crayola colours.
Um, the purpose of a widget is to give me nearly instant access to some bit of information I might otherwise have to search for elsewhere. Why put ANY impediment, no matter how tiny, to my being able to do that?
I'm fairly good with geography: I could easily tell you on this map where Slovenia is in comparison with Austria (could you do that?). Nonetheless, my overall impression momentarily was that the blue areas were water, until I looked closely. Why make any user do that?There is no explanation for it, other than that some designer somewhere thought it looked better and didn't consider the consequences.
Who said anything about Crayola(TM) colors? Just switch the gray-blue and the charcoal, and voila, X% more people would understand it instantly, plus the plane (white) and the plane's path (gold) would show up even better wherever it was about to/had already landed (presumably on land, hence the verb landed). I find it odd that so many people leap to the defense of this simple design mistake.
I have this problem with copy machines where there is an indicator for light and dark that is a little half circle of one color usually printed on the putty-colored copy machine. It's hard to tell whether I am supposed to look at the presence of color -- even if it's a lighter color -- as the "darker" option or the actual color that looks darker. Part of this problem is that I don't know my left from my right too well so if there is a normal side that darker shows up on, I don't remember it.
Lynn, if this was a Windows app, those same people who defend it now would be laughing at how stupid it was.
If you think this small color thing makes you think too hard you should see the horrible copies that are made for us to read off of at school. In that there's no color whatsoever; just black and white (no gray), and shapes are horribly mutilated by the cursed copy machine. Geometry with those pictures is horrible, and making a mistake because of a misinterpretation of a picture can kill your tests.
Who has it harder? You, who need to use up an extra second of your time looking for continents, or us, who have to rely on our interpretation of crappy pictures to keep us in an Honors (or on-level, with some people) class?
if u wanna know what the states were it was the island of new finlin next to alaskawhich is also broken cuz that is not the regular way to show the ends put together.
Who said anything about Crayola(TM) colors? Just switch the gray-blue and the charcoal, and voila, ***1%*** more people would understand it instantly"
There, Fixed That For You
Anyone who takes more than two seconds to orient that map should eat a few more fish servings and be held back a grade.
>>> Anyone who takes more than two seconds to orient that map should eat a few more fish servings and be held back a grade.
And any designer who thinks that squandering their users' time - even two seconds - should be sent back to usability school.
Repost with edit:
>>> Anyone who takes more than two seconds to orient that map should eat a few more fish servings and be held back a grade.
And any designer who thinks that squandering their users' time is no big deal - even two seconds - should be sent back to usability school.
"If you think this small color thing makes you think too hard you should see the horrible copies that are made for us to read off of at school. In that there's no color whatsoever; just black and white (no gray), and shapes are horribly mutilated by the cursed copy machine. Geometry with those pictures is horrible, and making a mistake because of a misinterpretation of a picture can kill your tests.
Who has it harder? You, who need to use up an extra second of your time looking for continents, or us, who have to rely on our interpretation of crappy pictures to keep us in an Honors (or on-level, with some people) class?"
Amen, brother.
A question to those who think this colour (Canada eh!)scheme acceptable. Why would an intelligent person create a map represeting the earth using anything other than colours that actually repesent our planets appearance?
For a map of this little detail it should be blue for water, green, brown, and white for land and permanent ice/snow cover.
The plane and its flight path could be any colours that contrast with the aforementioned.
The colour scheme chosen for the aplication shown in no way assists in meeting the users objective.
In my opinion, the designer did this for personal satisfaction or professional recognition and, showed little regard for its practicle application. Ditto for those that approved it after design and completion.
Unlike most people who found this color scheme for the widget broken, I have found it wonderfully straighforward. That darker background highlights the continents and golden span the relationships between departure point and arrival. To me the point of the widget is to provide an estimated relationship between departure and arrival. Instinctively whether one recognizes continents or not, one can tell the plane is getting closer to its destination. Now if there were no time or geographical information to the right of the graphic this widget would trully have been broken.
I agree that the color isn't so much important, as is the contrast between the colors. I immediately recognized the land masses on that map.
Considering the flight was arriving in Detroit, I can't see how anyone can get hung up while looking at probably the most distinct land forms on the world map-the Great Lakes area.
>>>That darker background highlights the continents and golden span the relationships between departure point and arrival. To me the point of the widget is to provide an estimated relationship between departure and arrival.
No doubt a good point, Roger M, but the same effect have been achieved with another lighter color (not blue) for the continents, and darker blue for the water, without causing ANY confusion whatsoever.
A lot of people think, "well, I figured it out, so it's not broken." If only usability were that simple. Unfortunately, we need to test across a wide population, and from these boards, it's clear enough people found it either unclear or annoying that it should not have been designed this way.
After attempting to think like a person with an IQ of 40 less than me, I've found that it is indeed confusing, but not for what everyone says. The map is has no compass to orient yourself.
Aside from that, it is set as if you're in space above the northern hemisphere looking at the Atlantic. Therefore, due to the Earth's curvature, East in the US is to the right of the picture, but East in Europe is to the right with a bit of an upward angle. You're used to seeing flat maps, where east is to the right, and get confused.
To the guy who originally submitted the "broken" scene: It is normal for you to mix up the colors, but after the first time you should remind yourself what is what and it doesn't happen again. If you can't adjust, try Windows...
Anyone who thinks usability should be a priority is smoking something funky. Consider this: If cars were extremely simple to use, where you don't need any thought to use them, you'd have a world of chaos with people who have a lot of free time to vent out their road rage. Perhaps people need a license to use a computer so that morons won't be wasting people's time because of the moron's faulty brain not working correctly.
>>> Perhaps people need a license to use a computer so that morons won't be wasting people's time because of the moron's faulty brain not working correctly.
Um, yes, that makes a lot of sense.
Stand by, they may be handing out logic licenses soon, and you might need to study up.
zero???: Prisoners have it too good. Some of them have a better life than most good citizens. Shelter, food, etc...
Then what are you doing here? Why aren't you out breaking the law? After all, if prison is such a good deal, why isn't everybody trying to get sent there?
Perhaps the people that find this confusing should pay some attention in 9th grade. Do they know that there's actually a "World Geography" class you MUST take? [sigh] Is THIS what the US is coming to? Just a bunch of morons that can't read a map by the edges (the way the brain processes images)? If they can't figure out that the big gray thing is the atlantic and recognise Europe, the Labrador Peninsula, and Huson Bay, then they are not familiar enough with the planet they live on. At least be able to reconise Florida, after all those hurricanes!
Manno- If you'd read my other posts you'd know why I'm not in jail. Want to study for that logic license with me?
Disapproving American, this has little to do with whether, ultimately, even after a split second, someone can figure out what is land and what is water. The issue is whether software makers and designers who are creating something that should be usable in an instant, i.e., a desktop widget, should waste the users time even for a split second with a poor design decision.
I'm sorry, but every time I read something posted on this blog, I'm agast at how retarded the items are. Generally,
they're just things I've been accustomed to seeing for
around 25 years now. How are items like this 'broken'?
If they colored them purple and green, I'd still know if
I was over land or water. Again, this blog never fails
to dissapoint on a retard factor. It begs the question--
How do you survive in a world full of mistakes?
This Is Broken: You.
Anonmous (sic)...I would say that anyone who repeatedly comes to a blog they have such low esteem for, and reads the articles and then posts, would be broken.
Actually, it's via RSS. I don't 'come to the blog'.
Second, I said it never fails to dissapoint on the
retard factor. I find it entertaining.
Here's an item that made me laugh:
Fender amp box 'This end up - Open other end'
Apparently some people find this hard to handle.
Keep this end up while shipping, but the other end
of the box is where the packaging should be opened
from.
This Is Broken: You.
Well, I don't consider myself stupid (though my IQ is only 149), but it took me a minute to figure out this map. I was trying to define the shape based upon the large, dark object in the center. After reading the start and stop points, I looked again and, after a moment, was able to see that the colors were reversed and then it all made sense. If not having the shape of the Atlantic memorized to be readily identifiable to me makes me a moron, then I suppose I am. I was looking at the dark mass thinking it was land so that is the shape I was looking at identifying. I don't think having the water blue would be such an unthinkable thing to ask. It would've helped me to identify everything more easily.
Actually, it's via RSS. I don't 'come to the blog'.
Second, I said it never fails to dissapoint on the
retard factor. I find it entertaining.
Actually, you are lying. You wrote: 'everytime I read somethign on this blog' which is different than reading it via RSS.
Also, you didn't say you were 'entertained,' you said you were 'agast,' which clearly has a far more negative connotation than 'entertained.'
What is broken: your honesty.
>>>Why would an intelligent person create a map represeting the earth using anything other than colours that actually repesent our planets appearance?>>>
Actually the human eye sees certain colors better than others. Making maps in different colors can help the map reader have less eye strain. Some military vehicles have many readouts in red colors. Some people prefer to have black and white and gray colors. ( I don't see some shades of green.) Other people prefer planes larger size or perhaps even show Alaska more huge that it is. I think from a UI study, this map fails the tests of annoyance of enough users. At least in this sample. *smile
Jonathan
It's easy to see that the darker area is water because of the plane. Otherwise, the plane would be landing in the ocean, silly!
I really have to say that there are some really lazy or stupid people in this world to complain about that, i find it extremely easy to distinguish. Hell in school here in canada atleast to pass geography you have to be able to take a blank map where everything is white with black outlines and be able to color it and then draw your own map without atlas'.
But i'm surprised that nobdy noticed that there is no way that that flight made it over the atlantic in and hour and 23 minutes hell the concord couldn't do that
The fourth post is incorrect. It would be going into Lake Erie, not Lake Michigan. Lake Michigan is on the other side of the state.
>>> "Um, the purpose of a widget is to give me nearly instant access to some bit of information I might otherwise have to search for elsewhere. Why put ANY impediment, no matter how tiny, to my being able to do that?
I'm fairly good with geography: I could easily tell you on this map where Slovenia is in comparison with Austria (could you do that?). Nonetheless, my overall impression momentarily was that the blue areas were water, until I looked closely. Why make any user do that?There is no explanation for it, other than that some designer somewhere thought it looked better and didn't consider the consequences."
What difference does it make if you can locate Austria in relation to the position of Slovenia if you can't even locate Europe and the Americas? Furthermore, like others have said, this map isn't designed to give one an exact geographical representation of the continents. It's just to show flights. If anything, the design is excellent. The darker colors of the map help highlight the aircraft icon.
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Previous: Misuse of "literally" | Main | Next: Gas pump instructions
my god, that airplane is the size of that body of water shaped like florida.
Posted by: gmangw at February 9, 2006 12:18 AM