The new icon in notification area for security updates shouldn't have a different shape than the older (only a different color)

Bug #228149 reported by antistress
6
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
gnome-icon-theme (Ubuntu)
Invalid
Undecided
Unassigned

Bug Description

There is a new update-manager icon today in notification area in Hardy that show a red arrow for security updates
http://www.cedynamix.fr/dotclear/public/Stocks/Ubuntu/8.04/804-newiconemaj.jpg

The other icon for normal updates is a white arrow in an orange star
http://www.cedynamix.fr/dotclear/public/Stocks/Ubuntu/8.04/8.10A4-icone1.jpg

I don't see the purpose of having 2 differents icons for the same action at different level of severity
There should be only ONE icon displayed in different colors (orange means medium, red means critical)

That should be more coherent and more explicit for the user since both icons launch the same application (update-manager)

I suggest for instance to keep the white arrow in orange star and to replace the red arrow by a white arrow in red star

Revision history for this message
patrick_g (patrick-guignot) wrote :

I agree with the bug report. It will be more consistent to have just one icon with two colors.

antistress (antistress)
Changed in update-manager:
assignee: nobody → desktop
assignee: desktop → desktop-bugs
Revision history for this message
Jeff Fortin Tam (kiddo) wrote :

the current behavior (different shapes) is relevant to me. On that note, the HIG says to not base yourself only on colors to make something distinguishable, you should use shape, etc. This is because some people have varying degrees of color blindness, among other things.

Besides, those icons are simply those provided by the gnome icon theme.

Revision history for this message
antistress (antistress) wrote :

Then both icons should have at less the same general design (for instance an arrow in a star vs an arrow in a cercle etc) but i don't think that having two completely different icons for a same task will be helpful to the user

Plus : on that blog http://www.cedynamix.fr/dotclear/index.php?post/2008/05/08/Nouvelle-icone-pour-le-gestionnaire-de-mise-a-jour#c1519
someone pointed out that this icon could be scarry for people who would not dare to clik on it...

Changed in update-manager:
assignee: desktop-bugs → nobody
Revision history for this message
Chris Coulson (chrisccoulson) wrote :

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and help make Ubuntu better. I have re-assigned this from update-manager to gnome-icon-theme, as that is the package which contains the default update-notifier icons for the Ubuntu Human theme. However, as already pointed out, from the GNOME Human Interface Guidelines:

"However, color should always be regarded as a useful addition to your design, not as a necessity. Never depend upon colors alone to display important information, and keep in mind that if colors cannot be perceived correctly (for example, the user has an 8-bit system, or is color-blind), your application should still be usable."

Therefore, I'm closing this bug as Invalid. Feel free to report any further bugs you might find.

Thanks

Changed in update-manager:
status: New → Invalid
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