Visual clutter is definitely an issue. One design that we considered
and punted to future is to dynamically label just the TOP hour slot
with AM/PM. So for example, if you've scrolled the calendar so that 3
in the afternoon is at the top, it should say 3PM at the top.
On Aug 29, 2007, at 2:58 PM, Robin Cottiss wrote:
[Jeffrey:]
Personally, I find the repeated AM/PM to be visual clutter, but
I'll
confess I also occasionally get confused about whether I'm
looking at
AM or PM, so I agree that the desktop certainly doesn't have it
right
yet. I wonder if there's some out-of-the box way to avoid
confusion
without repeating AM/PM?
How about some shading or gradient in the time panel?
It is there, sort of: the work hours (9-5) have a darker left-hand
border. If this is extended to add shading to the entire background,
then I think that:
1. it should distinguish working and non-working hours, not am/pm
2. non-working hours should be in a darker shade
Incidentally, this is how Outlook does it. But I'm happy with the
current design, personally. More importantly, extensive shading might
clash with Chandler mostly-white look, as opposed to Outlook's
heavy use
of blues and yellows.
Davor
[Robin Cottiss]
I Just looked at Outlook 2007 and it denotes am/pm on the 1st time
slot that
is visible ad dynamically updates as you scroll! It also always has
noon as
12pm. I am not sure about using the working hours to give the am/pm
context.
That would be asking your brain to do quite a lot! Suppose the view
I have
is all workday (so I do not see the boundaries). My brain has to
know that
the darker (or is it lighter?) shade/color is the workday then
translate
that into am/pm. You can tell the Outlook team had this issue as
they have
done a lot of work to address it. I cannot remember what previous
versions
of Outlook did but I am sure the am/pm context was not difficult to
decode.
Robin
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