Mar
23
Can I Get a Second Opinion? Need some Color Advice.
Posted under Thoughts
Hi all,
I’ve talked a bit here and there about the new Achieve-IT! desktop version. It’s looking good from a programming standpoint. But I’m not the most graphically skilled person in the world. Could you take a quick look at the two screens below and tell me which color scheme you like better?
Please don’t spend too long with it…just mention which one grabs you. It would really help me a lot. (Click them to make them bigger)
Classic: 
Grey:
I really appreciate it!
Technorati Tags: colors, graphics, interface, programming
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Comments
I’ll vote for Classic blue, because I think you see way too much of the grey in other programs out there. I wonder how easy it would be to solicit ’skins’ from other programmers/designers out there?
Can’t wait for it!
My vote for the grey one.
I don’t like the brown one at all. Not sure the right way to put this, but it makes the app look “old” somehow. Just my opinion, I’m not a trained UI professional.
While the grey one looks more drab and dated, it will look equally so with any window theme. The blue will look pretty nasty for someone using the green XP theme or a third party one.
Why not use both?
I like the blue. The brown seems boring, but it is mud season here in Vermont…
Post a pic of grey with blue buttons?
The classic one looks good and the grey one looks too boring to me.
I prefer Classic.
Can’t wait ’til the finish product. The classic one would be my preferrence. It adds more life to the software. Keep up the great work.
Why only a 32 footer? ;)
Grey looks better.
The Classic blue shade is definitely more pleasing to the eye, and looks “cleaner” than the grey. A suggestion: change the background color of the nav buttons on the left to something other than the same blue as the background; try #FFF0D1.
Some will like grey, some blue, some even orange, and some X (fill in). The color schemes are simple enough to provide a default and a set of coordinated color sets and to let the user select whatever is most pleasing to their eye. See XP desktop preferences for an example where Microsoft got this right.
I prefer the grey because i think all guis ought to look the same to make them more intuitive - which is why i hate itunes, for example - but i have a suggestion (ok 2 suggestions)
1) many programs these days utilize themes - so the user can pick their own gui - you could try that
and
2)i use outlook for my to do list (aka goals) and there is a very important function that you have overlooked: the checkbox. another implementation might be a to-do tree (aka goal implementation tree)
a real life example would be: i wanted to:
1)become a travel writer (top of the tree) so i:
A) returned from china [where i was living la vida fengkuang]
B) went to harvard and studied travel writing
C) got an internship at National Geograpic traveler
and
D) got a job at fodors writing their beijing guide.
Now D) had some subcatorgories, which i still havent implemented:
A) Visit my grandma in LA,
B) drive home to ny, and see my parents
C) sell the van (this one got checked off today)
D) buy a plane ticket
E) pack
F) go.
Grey
I find good UI to be as important as the main function. If it’s not 100% intuitive, fewer will use it. The color matters least here. To be honest (no offense) programmers shouldn’t design anything ;-) Maybe you can get some “real” hobby designer to help you out?
If not, just copy a mainstream program as closely as possible. There’s a reason why that’s designed the way it is. And if not, people are used to that design anyway. (I’m thinking ‘different bgcolor toolbar with left oriented icons’, tabs, standard iconset (eg some flopydisk as save), statusbar or other lower delimitation of window…)
interface design is a whole science for itself I’m afraid…
Ben, yes good points. I agree with you btw - programmers probably shouldn’t design. I get help where I can. In fact, a buddy built some new buttons for me last night. :)
If you know any of those hobby designers, please let me know.