Grey icons

Yes, usability has definitely suffrered. Apart from the coloreless Finder icons, the buttons in Mail 5 menubar are also very poor in usability/recognition terms.

I expect these things to get sorted when the usability gurus who've all been transferred to iOS Dev teams see what damage has been done to their great work from former days.

Surely there are folk inside Apple — as well as us customers outside — who are screaming about this?

I've been using Lion for quite a while now and don't notice any usabiltiy difference because of the gray icons. Still works just fine.

That's good for you!

However, Lion contravenes some well known usability principles. Use of colour is one; using unconventional icons (as in Mail menu bar) or which conventionally have a different meaning is another.

A good example is the 'thumbs down' icon used to replace 'Junk'. Thumbs down is conventionally known as meaning you want to vote something down in a social forum. It does not mean the same as 'Junk mail'.

For many of the others, you can't easily guess what those icons mean. You have to learn and then remember them. For some users that's more difficult than others.

I guess since I don't use Social Networking, I'm not caught in the stereotypical use of "thumbs down." At one point, "thumbs down" meant "kill him," which seems to be what I want to do with Junk mail. Much more intuitive than I want to make a sack lunch for it.

Sure, as you say you don't have an issue with it.

However, usability isn't an all or nothing thing. To say that there are usability issues isn't to say that *everyone* has issues, or even the majority. It is to say that it is not the optimal design for the greatest number of users.

Colour is well recognised in usability and design circles as aiding visibility and recognition. Using symbols that have a conventional meaning with a different meaning is also recognised as a common usablity problem. To give a parallel example, if somoene has never driven a car in the UK might not be familiar with the convention of road signs that use a red circle with a white horizontal bar to mean 'no entry'. To those people, using that sign to mean 'you may enter' won't cause a problem. However, for all those that are used to that symbol having a different meaning, it will.

Ok, now that you've demonstrated your inability to use the system as-is, what should us users do about it?

I don't understand your comment. I've a couple of years training in usability and design. If you're not interested in professional responses, that's up to you, but at least try to keep your posts on an intelligent and relevant level.

If you want to report this issue to Apple's engineering, send a bug report or an enhancement request via its Bug Reporter system. To do this, register as an Apple Developer—it's free and available for all Mac users and gets you a look at some development software. Since you already have an Apple username/ID, use that. Once a member, go to Apple BugReporter and file your bug report or enhancement request. You'll get a response and a follow-up number; thus, starting a dialog with engineering.

It doesn't matter if your response is professional or stupid. We users can't do anything about the problem you are experiencing. However, I would imagine someone with your professional background in usability could write some code to replace the icons with more usable ones.

Barney, are you having trouble following the point of this thread or are you just posting to pick a quarrel?

The OP and myself have pointed out that there are usability design flaws in Lion in general and Mail in particular. Among those who know about usability (and I count myself as one), these kinds of flaws are well-known, and have been well documented and proven in all sorts of academic research and empirical tests in other products in the past.

The fix for the problem could come from two possible sources:

i. third party patches/apps that allow users to change icons, add colour

ii. Apple Mac OSX Dev team improving the design in future updates.

An argument is all this thread is. We can't fix the problems you have with Lion. We're just users like yourself. If you want Apple to fix the problems you perceive, then contact them on the appropriate channels. This isn't it. This forum is for users to help other user with technical issues related to using Apple software and products.

Since we can't possibly solve your problem, this is just a blog post, complaining about Apple's design decisions. Whether your theory is correct or not is irrelevant to the discussion. I have no problem identifying icons in the sidebar or in Mail's toolbar. You seem to think you, and 'those who know,' can't possibly work with the gray icons.

I disagree. I can use them just fine, even if all your theoretical usabilty skillz says I can't.

You seem to think you, and 'those who know,' can't possibly work with the gray icons.

Unnecessary and willful misreading of the points being made. You know full well (or you need remedial lessons in understanding English), that's not at all what's been said. There's also no need for you to turn what is a rational discussion into a needlessly combative one.

I do accept your points that there's nothing you can do and that, in general, discussions.apple.com is intended to be a forum for seeking answers to problems. However, that was clearly not the OPs intention, and the notion of 'support' and 'discussion' can include the notion of expressing an opinion in the hope that others might feel the same.

Accepting your points, however, it raises the question — why do you continue to post in this discussion?

Oh, don't worry. It's a rhetorical question. I'm bored already of your head-in-the-sand responses. Have at it. I'm out of here.

Note to OP: yes, agree. Let's hope something gets done via one of the channels I mentioned above.

Accepting your points, however, it raises the question — why do you continue to post in this discussion?

It's fun. Why are you here? It certainly doesn't sound you are having as much fun as I am.