[Indicators] Messaging indicator does not indicate that there is a new message

[Renato Araujo Oliveira Filho]

When you receive a message the indicator menu turns from opaque to full white to indicate that there is a new message. But this is not clear since all the other icons are white and you do not see any difference.

This is very confuse to understand that the indicator is in a different state from the other indicators or if it needs attention.

----------DESIGN RESOLUTION---------------

Please use the current ubuntu theme green to indicate that there is a new message - #3FB24F, the same green as we use for the battery icon in indicators.

Change the LED light to green as well.

[Pat McGowan (pat-mcgowan)]

Seems that since the led flashes blue for new messages it would be consistent to use blue in the indicator
Also the indicators are not all moochromatic as the battery still changes to green to indicate charging so it seems this would not violate some policy unless the battery is also due for change of some sort.
A number of users were confused by the change to remove color

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Renato Araujo Oliveira Filho (renatofilho)]

should we change the led color to green to make it consistent?

[Charles Kerr (charlesk)]

For the green icon, ubuntu-themes' file "messages-new.svg" needs to be changed to use the #3FB24F color referred to by design.

[Magdalena Mirowicz (magdalena-mirowicz)]

Renato, regarding LED light, it's fine to leave it blue

[Pat McGowan (pat-mcgowan)]

setting for the krillin ota

[Pat McGowan (pat-mcgowan)]

Since we now know the led was blue to match the original indicator color, which then changed to green then white then back to green, I suggest we now make the indicator green as well.

[Magdalena Mirowicz (magdalena-mirowicz)]

Agreed, let's change it to green

[Paty Davila (dizzypaty)]

--- 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)

---

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)

[Paty Davila (dizzypaty)]

@pat-mcgowan, I've just came back from holidays today and I wasn't aware of previous conversations and the decision that was taken yesterday about the messaging indicator icon. You can ignore my previous comment.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package ubuntu-themes - 14.04+15.10.20150603.1-0ubuntu1

---------------
ubuntu-themes (14.04+15.10.20150603.1-0ubuntu1) wily; urgency=medium

  [ CI Train Bot ]
  * New rebuild forced.

  [ Charles Kerr ]
  * cherrypick the new messages-new.svg suru icon from
    lp:~tiheum/ubuntu-themes/suru-app-icons-v2 (LP: #1450894)

 -- CI Train Bot <email address hidden> Wed, 03 Jun 2015 21:41:43 +0000

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package unity8 - 8.02+15.10.20150603.1-0ubuntu1

---------------
unity8 (8.02+15.10.20150603.1-0ubuntu1) wily; urgency=medium

  [ CI Train Bot ]
  * New rebuild forced.
  * Resync trunk.

  [ Renato Araujo Oliveira Filho ]
  * Set the device led color to green. (LP: #1450894)

 -- CI Train Bot <email address hidden> Wed, 03 Jun 2015 21:42:35 +0000

[Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt)]

So according to the usability test, "7/11 participants failed to interpret the meaning of blue".

How many interpreted the meaning of green? Was it any better?

I'd be surprised if Michael quoted above, for example, would say: "I don't know why it would need to be blue ... but green, green makes sense to me."

Or if Hansie would change his belief that "The fact that it is present indicates there is something there for me to do" merely because it was sometimes green rather than sometimes blue (if he even saw that happen).

If the logic is, "the menu is where we list notifications, therefore the indicator has to be there all the time, therefore we need to use visual design to distinguish new messages received or not", then maybe the premise is wrong.

[Matthieu James (tiheum)]

Note that apart from the colour, the designs of the icons used for the two states of the indicator (no new message / new message) are different since the last update: outline / solid envelope.
This might help to differentiate the two states.