Difference lighting and cross-linking on the bridge

[Thomas von der Elbe]

Hey Mike,

can we talk about this via skype? I tried to reply by mail, but it is 
difficult to express myself here through writing.

T


On Sun, 02 Sep 2012 14:19, Michael Allan wrote:
>>> b) Don't distinguish full cast relation, but only position in
>>> regard to anchor. So voters and co-voters *left* of the anchor are
>>> lightly shaded, while co-voters and candidate *right* are darkly
>>> shaded. This echoes the spatial info of the vote-track *and*
>>> emphasizes the anchor more clearly. Easier now to orient.
>   
> Thomas von der Elbe said:
>> Can't we leave this distinction away? Just have the anchor and the
>> other (no matter if left or right)?
>>
>>> The light ones (left) remain on top in the diffs, and the dark
>>> (right) below. No change there.
>> How, if the anchor was always on top?
>   
> To stabilize the colour of the anchor?  I think you put your finger on
> the main problem.  The main problem is not "colour soup" as I thought,
> but rather the colour shifts of the anchor, e.g. when running the
> mouse along the track:http://zelea.com:8080/v/w/D?a=5339&b=5340&s
>
> The anchor should be stable.  It should not flicker and flash when the
> user is exploring.  But if we stabilize the anchor colour by forcing
> the anchor to the top of the difference scene (sometimes reversing the
> order, sometimes not) then whatever we gain in the way of stability in
> the vote track might be lost again in the scene.  The difference order
> will depend on how the user arrives at the scene.  No longer will
> Georgina (the voter) be predictably on top and Frank on bottom.
> http://zelea.com:8080/v/w/D?a=5339&b=5340&s
> http://zelea.com:8080/v/w/D?a=5339&b=5340
>
> Here's a possible solution that would leave the difference order
> stable.  This tackles the problem directly in the vote track:
>
>    a) Do not re-colour the anchor while the mouse is tracking.  While
>       the mouse is tracking, only re-colour the segment beneath the
>       pointer where the user's eyes are focused.  After the mouse is
>       clicked, re-colour the anchor.
>
>    b) Smooth the re-colouring of the anchor (after the click) by
>       animating it.  This will give the user time to understand what is
>       happening.
>
>    c) Likewise (though less important) smooth any colour transitions in
>       the difference scene, such as the loss of colour on selecting
>       another difference.  (Note to myself: when a scene initializes
>       without colour because of a persisted selection, then animate
>       that initial loss too.)
>
>> part of the complexity ofc also comes from putting a 2- or
>> 3-dimensional tree into a line. Which makes me look foreward even
>> more for the vote-space-curtain, which falls down on demand and has
>> enough room to show much more of the vote-space much clearer. (BTW,
>> the circular layout of it is my favorite again, after we had this
>> thread about these centerless pipe-votes, where voters gather around
>> them in circles.) And I have the hope, that coding this curtain is
>> not so much of an effort anymore, since almost all of the
>> functionality of it is now already coded in the track and only the
>> graphics would change - or is this wrong?
> We're talking about the right side of this:
> http://zelea.com/project/votorola/s/gwt/scene/vote/_/3.xht
> It's my favourite votespace visual, too.  And the left side is my
> favourite talk visual.  (Maybe we'll have a talk curtain, too.)
>
> You're right, much of the work has already been done.  It shouldn't be
> terribly hard to code once we get started.
>
>> But [back to] the track:
>>
>> I think, part of the confusion would go away, if there were both
>> names up in the track, if two people are involved in the show,
>> i.e. in position pages with highlighted diffs and diff-pages. And
>> maybe the names permanently coloured accordingly, like it is now
>> when hovered over (or have a colourd frame or background around
>> them).
> You're thinking part of the confusion comes from pairing two actors on
> stage instead of one?  OK.  But I think you already put your finger on
> the main problem above.  After we fix that, we could look at it again.
>
>> And how, if we make the anchor really the center of the
>> user-experience?  So the user always knows, where he is looking
>> from. From this center of his perspective he can look at other
>> drafters, i.e. at diffs (in position-pages and in the
>> diff-bridge). And ofc he can always change his center of
>> perspective, i.e. make another one the anchor. ...
> I don't understand how this would differ from now.  Here Frank is the
> votespace anchor:http://zelea.com:8080/v/w/D?a=5339&b=5340&s
> Here Georgina:http://zelea.com:8080/v/w/D?a=5339&b=5340
> You can choose either as anchor in the difference scene.
>
> In a draft scene, the anchor is always the author:
> http://zelea.com/w/User:Frank-FlippityNet/Sys/p/sandbox
> http://zelea.com/w/User:Georgina-BeenaCom/Sys/p/sandbox
>
> But most other scenes allow you to shift the anchor anywhere without
> shifting the scene.  E.g.http://zelea.com/w/Sys/p/sandbox
>
>> Yes, I think, this will help a lot. Just two stabile colours: one
>> for each actor: anchor and the other.
>>
>>> Add colour (say dull red) for the non-drafters, who are currently
>>> distinguished as grey in the track.
>> If we have two colours for the others, grey for the non-drafters is
>> good imo.
> OK.
>

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