asked 2014-03-15 00:26:27 +0200
Haven't paid attention to it before but now I'm feeling confused. In call log, there's no marking in front of the entries for outgoing calls. Incoming calls I've answered or declined have an arrow pointing to the left, away, from the caller id. Wouldn't it be more natural to interpret the arrow pointing away for outgoing calls?
answered 2014-03-15 14:22:14 +0200
Maybe adding a telephone pictogram to the arrow would make it more concise? Seems to be a very common approach, like:
and
Note: the icons are only for illustrational purpose and not part of the suggestion. They are from Freepik's Interface icon set, which is CC BY 3.0 licensed. Of course the implemented icons should look sailfishy :)
answered 2014-03-15 13:36:52 +0200
As we can see from the different comments above, the horizontal arrows are a matter of interpretation and obviously not intuitive for everyone.
I think it would be more intuitive to use vertical arrows to indicate call direction instead, like:
- incoming call (pointing towards me)
- incoming call, rejected/missed
- outgoing call (pointing away from me)
- outgoing call, rejected/missed
Note: the icons are only for illustrational purpose and not part of the suggestion. They are from Yusuke Kamiyamane's Fugue icon set, which is CC BY 3.0 licensed. Of course the implemented icons should look sailfishy :)
@tokaru: I tried to imagine how you'd have to hold your phone to make this assumption vaild... And I had to think of Steve Jobs: „You're holding it wrong.“ LOL - No, that's just a joke of course, but this whole thing is an interesting example of UI design, including a lot of assumptions we make about how people read a symbol, about context. Is it pointing upwards or away from me? Is it pointing left or away from the contact's name? Or backwards?
ossi1967 ( 2014-03-15 14:23:13 +0200 )editAsked: 2014-03-15 00:26:27 +0200
Seen: 7,304 times
Last updated: Mar 15 '14
I think it's ok like how it is now.
torcida ( 2014-03-15 00:36:14 +0200 )editIt's logical. "<– Contact" shows that the call is coming from Contact. And if you didn't answer, the arrow turns back to the caller. But of course it would be even more clear if outgoing calls were marked "–> Contact".
ssahla ( 2014-03-15 10:15:24 +0200 )editThat's tricky... an interesting question about user interface interpretation... I have never thought about this before, but both interpretations are logical, depending on which element you look at first. Having an arrow pointing to the left on the left side of your display may be interpreted as "away from this device" as well... in direct context with a person's name, it might also mean "away from this person".
May vertical arrows would be more distinct, up=away from me, down=towards me. After all the UI should reflect the user's perspective, not the device's...
tokaru ( 2014-03-15 11:47:21 +0200 )editPerhaps adding a vertical line to the icons would eliminate any potential ambiguity?
|← Received call |→ Called [contact name]
fivepointsquare ( 2014-03-15 12:35:34 +0200 )editYes I agree with the logic behind it. But I feel the implementation somewhat confusing/conflicting with the common reading direction and interpretation (I don't know how it is for those languages that read from right to left though). And I'm not sure if adding a vertical line makes it clearer. I find it better if the symbols were vertical like for example on N9.
spacenewt ( 2014-03-15 13:03:52 +0200 )edit