kiran@copper.ucs.indiana.edu (Kiran Wagle) (06/06/91)
klingspo@mozart.cs.colostate.edu (Steve Klingsporn) writes: >You know that it's been proven that color has effects on people?! Yes, but i'm curious as to _what_ effects color has on people. In particular, i find that on a color monitor (13" RGB) i can work longer--i have less mental fatigue. Maybe the letters are blurrier, but i can read them for longer anyway. So has anyone done studies on the effects that coloring various parts of the interface has on the ability of users to stare at their screen without fatigue? >Red and green especially. Put a green border around the "initialize" >button, and users are more likely to go for it... Right...but 'put a green border around the zoom box and people are more likely to go for it'? I think there's a large part of the interface that can be colored without affecting its usability. But all Apple lets you change is the label colors, the window trim colors (to a limited extent in 7.0), and of course the desktop, (and hilight colors, more on that below.) I Kolor my menu bar and menu background, and find the desktop much friendlier that way. I'd like to see a new Kolor which will allow changes to the rest of the interface. As for gaudy icons, why not? It's hard to wreck something by double-clicking an icon...if you have that kind of apps around, serves you right. >It's all sensible. Not quite all. The highlight (selected text) color can be changed in ways that sometimes cause odd behavior in app selections & inverted text. A pastel blue selection zone is nice, but not if the text is still white. So--the quick fix--don't use (allow) anything but black. (I've never been as enthusiastic as Apple about Black-on-white text. Other combinations seem much easier to read. >Who cares -- this is the point. Yes--and enough people do care about the color of their desktop to allow commercial sales of color-changing & other-customizing tools (ClikChange, &c) Let the user decide as much about his/her interface as possible. >It's up to you, it's about choice. Personally, I'm really happy with the >new look of the Finder. So am i, mostly. But i would like to be able to cahnge a few colors... -- ...kiran __________kiran@copper.ucs.indiana.edu________(812) 331-1710 From the corrections column in a July Fresno, CA _Bee_: "An item in Thursday's [issue] about the Massachusetts budget crisis made reference to new taxes that will help put Massachusetts 'back in the African-American.' The item should have said 'back in the black.'"
lsr@Apple.COM (Larry Rosenstein) (06/19/91)
In article <kiran.676197191@copper> kiran@copper.ucs.indiana.edu (Kiran Wagle) writes: >more likely to go for it'? I think there's a large part of the >interface that can be colored without affecting its usability. But all >Apple lets you change is the label colors, the window trim colors The system tries not to make heavy use of color so that applications can do so. There's a technical issue (sharing the color table), and a visual issue (not detracting from the application's display). A color image in a neutral window makes a much bigger impact, than in a window with colored borders. -- Larry Rosenstein, Apple Computer, Inc. lsr@apple.com (or AppleLink: Rosenstein1)