Public bug reported:
Binary package hint: empathy
Messages regularly come into Empathy, and I regularly miss them. Some
may think this is subjective, and it is. Some may also think it's just
me, and maybe that's true too, but let me enumerate some of the reasons
why I believe this to be the case:
1. The sound isn't loud enough. Turning up the system volume isn't an
option, as it makes the sounds of everything else too loud. The sound
level of notifications in Empathy is not adjustable like it is in
Pidgin.
2. The new message sound isn't played if the window is focused. This may seem
dumb at first, but there are plenty of times when the window could be focused,
but the user would still miss the message if there is no sound. Consider the
following cases:
a. The conversation window is focused, but I stepped away from the computer (or
looked at my desk),
b. The conversation window is focused, but my attention is on the PDF (or
webpage, or whatever) I have open next to it, and the new IM comes in on a
different tab than the one which is selected.
c. I'm looking at the conversation window, but message comes in on a tab other
than the one selected.
3. The Notification Area icon doesn't get my attention very well. In the
default theme, it's a white envelope which turns green when there is a
new message. This violates the GNOME HIG, for attributing meaning to a
color change (since some people are colorblind). One could say that
white to green is still visible to a colorblind person (certainly to
_some_ colorblind people, as colorblindness isn't the same for
everyone), but even so, it's not hard to imagine the icon being
difficult to distinguish to someone who has trouble seeing color. I am
not a colorblindness expert, but I know what's in the HIG.
4. When a message comes in from a person who doesn't have a tab open in
the conversation window, their icon flashes in the buddy list. That's
great, except that the buddy list is often minimized or behind other
stuff, obscuring the flashing. (I do like the flashing though; it makes
me think of the good old ICQ days, when life was simple). I put it here
because, while it is good, it's insufficient, and I don't want people to
quickly reply with "why don't you just look at the flashing icon in the
buddy list...."
5. When a message comes in, in the conversation window, the icon next to
the name of the person who sent the message changes from green to white.
Yes, the exact _opposite_ of the notification area icon. Upon close
inspection, the green and the white _are_ different icons, but barely.
Without seeing the color, I don't know if I'd be able to tell the
difference, certainly not at a glance. Again, HIG, etc.
6. The Window Manager "URGENT" bit is set on the window. This is good.
The problem is that with the new default Ubuntu theme, the button in the
window list doesn't grab your attention, as it looks very close to the
way the button for the focused window looks, which is not very different
from the way the rest of the buttons look.
Is this subjective? Sure. However, I've been using Gaim/Pidgin for
years, and I've never had the problem of missing IM messages.
I understand that it's a hard problem. People complain when it's too
annoying, and people complain when it's not attention-grabbing enough,
and you can't please everybody. Can I submit though, that Pidgin has
been around the block; they've been through all this before, and for
quite a while now, has had a pretty standard way of getting the
attention of the user. I think what they've come up with is pretty good,
and it didn't happen overnight. There's no reason we have to re-invent
all this stuff with Empathy. How about incorporating some of the good
ideas that Gaim/Pidgin have developed over the years and consider using
them. "Not Invented Here" really doesn't help anyone when it comes to
human factors.
Package: empathy 2.30.1-0ubuntu
Ubuntu 8.10
** Affects: empathy (Ubuntu)
Importance: Undecided
Status: New
** Description changed:
Binary package hint: empathy
Messages regularly come into Empathy, and I regularly miss them. Some
- may thing this is subjective, and it is. Some may also think it's just
+ may think this is subjective, and it is. Some may also think it's just
me, and maybe that's true too, but let me enumerate some of the reasons
why I believe this to be the case:
1. The sound isn't loud enough. Turning up the system volume isn't an
option, as it makes the sounds of everything else too loud. The sound
level of notifications in Empathy is not adjustable like it is in
Pidgin.
2. The new message sound isn't played if the window is focused. This may seem
dumb at first, but there are plenty of times when the window could be focused,
but the user would still miss the message if there is no sound. Consider the
following cases:
a. The conversation window is focused, but I stepped away from the computer
(or looked at my desk),
b. The conversation window is focused, but my attention is on the PDF (or
webpage, or whatever) I have open next to it, and the new IM comes in on a
different tab than the one which is selected.
c. I'm looking at the conversation window, but message comes in on a tab
other than the one selected.
3. The Notification Area icon doesn't get my attention very well. In the
default theme, it's a white envelope which turns green when there is a
new message. This violates the GNOME HIG, for attributing meaning to a
color change (since some people are colorblind). One could say that
white to green is still visible to a colorblind person (certainly to
_some_ colorblind people, as colorblindness isn't the same for
everyone), but even so, it's not hard to imagine the icon being
difficult to distinguish to someone who has trouble seeing color. I am
not a colorblindness expert, but I know what's in the HIG.
4. When a message comes in from a person who doesn't have a tab open in
the conversation window, their icon flashes in the buddy list. That's
great, except that the buddy list is often minimized or behind other
stuff, obscuring the flashing. (I do like the flashing though; it makes
me think of the good old ICQ days, when life was simple). I put it here
because, while it is good, it's insufficient, and I don't want people to
quickly reply with "why don't you just look at the flashing icon in the
buddy list...."
5. When a message comes in, in the conversation window, the icon next to
the name of the person who sent the message changes from green to white.
Yes, the exact _opposite_ of the notification area icon. Upon close
inspection, the green and the white _are_ different icons, but barely.
Without seeing the color, I don't know if I'd be able to tell the
difference, certainly not at a glance. Again, HIG, etc.
6. The Window Manager "URGENT" bit is set on the window. This is good.
The problem is that with the new default Ubuntu theme, the button in the
window list doesn't grab your attention, as it looks very close to the
way the button for the focused window looks, which is not very different
from the way the rest of the buttons look.
Is this subjective? Sure. However, I've been using Gaim/Pidgin for
years, and I've never had the problem of missing IM messages.
I understand that it's a hard problem. People complain when it's too
annoying, and people complain when it's not attention-grabbing enough,
and you can't please everybody. Can I submit though, that Pidgin has
been around the block; they've been through all this before, and for
quite a while now, has had a pretty standard way of getting the
attention of the user. I think what they've come up with is pretty good,
and it didn't happen overnight. There's no reason we have to re-invent
all this stuff with Empathy. How about incorporating some of the good
ideas that Gaim/Pidgin have developed over the years and consider using
them. "Not Invented Here" really doesn't help anyone when it comes to
human factors.
Package: empathy 2.30.1-0ubuntu
Ubuntu 8.10
--
New Message Notifications in Empathy are not Attention-Grabbing Enough
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/592859
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