Change the Green Online Icon to an Icon reflecting the IM Protocol?

[Gary Kramlich]

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Charliep wrote:
> Wow!
> 
> Okay, then forget everything complimentary I just said about Pidgin. What a
> stupid program.

<snip>

We're not forcing you to use it...

> I also cannot use a program where the developers burry their heads in the
> dirt and ignore the wishes and the interests of users.

You're forgetting that you don't have to use it.

> The 'art' of designing a good UI is to LISTEN to your users and to design
> something that is functional and easy and intuitive to use. If your users
> ask for Skins then you give them Skins. Eventually one user who knows
> nothing about programming will develop a great Skin that will become more
> popular than the original Skin, and then it will become the standard.

Our first priority users are the developers.

> After skimming the threads Gary pointed out I am just dumbfounded that the
> developers can be so pig headed. The present icons without protocol serve NO
> PURPOSE. They just tell you whether the user is online or away or busy or
> whatever. This could EASILY be done by the color of the text for the name of
> the user, or if you really insist to be graphical, the shade of the Avatar
> or the frame of the Avatar for a particular user.

Try reading them instead of skimming them, and then maybe you'll get the
idea...  Yeah, we're more pigheaded than a user that is months late to a
discussion and all they can do is skim rather than understand both
points of view.

> to the programmers who ask the question "Why do you need to know the
> protocol on the buddy list" my answer is "Why do you need to know why I need
> to know that?" Just make it work and stop trying to be something you are not
> - a UI specialist. 

I'll also point out that you missed buddies->show->protocol icons.
Heaven forbid a user looks in a menu...

> The EASIEST reason is because that is the way it was built before, so that
> is the way it should be built goiing forward because people are used to it.
> Make your users happy.

You ever fail a home work assignment, study harder, and pass a test.
Yeah same idea, if you present a good enough argument, maybe it'll be
turned back on by default.  But since we've hashed over this again, and
AGAIN, and *AGAIN*, I don't see this as likely.  The whole reason the
menu item got added was to shut people like you up.

> The better reason is the present design provides NO INFORMATION that cannot
> be provided in a different manner. It is a stupid, brain dead, redundant,
> space wasting design.

I have no idea what you're talking about here.

> Another good reason is that it makes it easier for the user to find a
> particular contact within his list of contacts inside Pidgin. He knows he is
> looking for an AOL user, so he can ignore all the other icons that are
> unrelated to AOL.

Theres these nifty things called groups.

> It is very unfortunate to see that GAIM has fallen into the hands of a bunch
> of programmers who make design decisions without any regard to the opinions
> of the users. Pidgins are rats with wings! The choice of this stupid name
> accurately reflects the present state of this stupid application.

As I said earlier, the developers are the users, we just decided to
share it with everyone.

<snip>

- --
Gary Kramlich <grim at reaperworld.com>
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