New Plus/Minus icons

johnno07 on 12/11/2013 - 13:42

Just wondering why the change to the plus/minus icon style/font. Obviously this is very much personal preference, but I sort of think they're a bit… ugly?

Firstly, it looks like the comment voting buttons are actually smaller than they used to be - or maybe this is an illusion. It has long been said that these buttons should probably be bigger for ease of use on touch devices.

Secondly, the green and red of the voting buttons (deal and comment) are different shades than they were. The contrast between the green and the red seems to have actually been reduced, with the red negative button looking a bit more burgundy/brown now. I wonder if this is a problem for people with Red/Green colour blindness?

Lastly, and a very minor cosmetic thing, is that the signs (plus/negative) on on the deal voting buttons are really far to the right. I assume this is so they remain in the same place whether there are a single, double or triple digit number of votes. It looks a bit off kilter, particularly on single digit numbers.

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Comments

  • scotty on 12/11/2013 - 14:51
    +3

    Thanks for the feedback. The main change is that we are moving away from image/sprite-based icons to font/vector-based icons so they will look better on screens with different DPI (think all those retina displays and 1080P screen on 5" phone). While scaling up the image on high DPI screen makes it look ugly, I think there are other issues with doing vector icons on low DPI screens (sometimes things don't look aligned).

    it looks like the comment voting buttons are actually smaller than they used to be…

    Yes it will be fixed.

    the green and red of the voting buttons (deal and comment) are different shades than they were

    Actually more changes on the way to make them look even more different. Currently active vote buttons (i.e. the ones that haven't been voted) are white background + green/dark red fonts, which I think delivers less information than light green/red background buttons. Especially when the buttons themselves serve dual purpose — allowing you to vote as well as showing what the current votes are (important value on how good a deal is). Something like this:

    http://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/1/19286/new-vote-btns.p…

    signs (plus/negative) on on the deal voting buttons are really far to the right.

    Yeah 2 pixels to the right edge. I'll move it slightly to the left. 3 digit numbers barely fit…

    • johnno07 on 12/11/2013 - 18:55

      The new vote buttons look great. All of the new "new comment" icons look really good as well. Loving all the work you've done lately!

      I can definitely understand the three digit numbers barely fit. Is there merit in potentially just concatenating the sign on the end of the vote count with a space in between and centering the whole lot, instead of having the sign always in the same place? Does that make sense?

  • scotty on 13/11/2013 - 09:47

    Style updates this morning:

    • Comment votes are now bigger
    • +/- on the deal voting is now a bit to the left
    • Default background colour no longer white.
    • Holysmoke on 13/11/2013 - 09:50

      What is the actual background colour?

      • scotty on 13/11/2013 - 09:55
        +1

        Now it's slight tint of green and red. Previously the clickable buttons have white background with a green + or a dark red -.

  • Kewok on 13/11/2013 - 10:24

    I would like to point out,

    I do believe 10+ and +10 mean different things.

    Where 10+ would mean 10 votes or more
    While +10 would mean it has received only 10 votes.

    I do believe it was the latter prior to the update?

  • starionx on 13/11/2013 - 10:56
    +1

    If a bargain has a zero plus or minus (no votes), then the background (for the zero side) should be white, and the text black/grey. As it is now, they are all red/green, regardless of whether there has been a vote or not.

    • Giraffe on 13/11/2013 - 13:29
      +2

      I agree, at the moment it feels like too much red as I scan down the LHS, even though most of them have zero negative votes. I think it's mostly the red background colour that annoys me.

    • odysseus on 13/11/2013 - 13:45

      Agreed as well.

      I preferred the old way of white background on votes which made it clear which had been voted and which not.

      Now it's both:
      1) lost that information being apparent
      2) creating more noise by more colour

    • Mister Plod on 13/11/2013 - 13:45

      Was thinking the exact same thing. Would look much better that way; only giving the tint if either vote has 1 or more = less eye stuff my brain has to things.

  • k on 14/11/2013 - 00:08
    +1

    I don't mind the new icons, they are much more sleek and modern. However, the colours used are horrible. It might just be me but I find it difficult looking at the front page; the green and red overwhelm the title of the deal IMHO.

    They stick out too much. The old colours (although very faint) were great and did not disturb the integrity of the deal.

    • hijupic on 14/11/2013 - 00:15

      I agree. It feels like I have already voted. Everything else is fine.
      Please bring back the default unclicked colours back if possible

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