Comment 9 for bug 1450894

--- UX comment ---

The use of blue to indicate 'unread' and 'missed' communications was not understood, 7/11 participants failed to interpret the meaning of blue. This is because of the following mental models:

- Blue does not signify that attention is required
- The presence of a communication indicator already suggests 'unread' and 'missed'

User quotes:
"I don't know why it needs to be blue, I don't need it to be there if there aren't any unread messages. It normally will only show when there is an outstanding message." (Michael)
"The fact that it is present indicates there is something there for me to do." (Hansie)

When there are no outstanding messages/missed calls, the participants did not expect the indicators to be shown. Therefore, the blue colour serves little meaning to them.

Based on these findings, we've decided to only show the Notification indicator icon (white) if its current status is on/running or required the user's attention. (With the exception of informational indicators which are always present).

Source: Notification indicator & icon findings from Usability testing sessions - March and Sep 2014 (https://goo.gl/tncf2K) & (https://goo.gl/EAE94I)

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Also, with the new design of the Notification System, we suggest using the lock screen to provide more functionality beyond unlocking the phone: such as notifications for emails and text messages, a date and time display, or even shortcuts to certain applications, for example, the camera or the media player control. This appearance of notifications on the lock screen addresses user's prioritisation of different communication content based on their context, for example, from earlier research, we found that participants gave different levels of attention according to the communication medium: a missed call is more likely to require an immediate action; text messages are checked on a frequent basis; personal emails are relatively less urgent, and tend to be checked at the user's convenience. Therefore, the 'envelope' icon in the status bar takes a 'secondary role' when notifying the user.

Desired behaviour of 'Envelope' icon:
User can swipe either way to unlock the screen, if she does, all notifications will disappear and be recorded in the Notification centre and the 'envelope' icon should be present on the Status bar. If user sees (opens) the Notification centre or acts on a notification when it arrives, then the 'envelope' icon should disappear from the status bar. (https://goo.gl/J6G9Yn)