I have to agree that the empathy 'away' icon feels much more negative than the busy icon. It's definitely worse to send someone a message when they're busy than when they're away. I think we also need a do not disturb status that is neither busy nor away. The way I see it there are four main states a computer user is in:
- Available - general computer use, not doing anything important and would probably like to chat - Busy - doing some work, but if a close friend wants to talk or someone has something important to say they should instant message, but should not expect an immediate reply or possibly no reply. - Away - literally not here. will probably be back in a little bit, and can reply if a message is left - Do not disturb - I'm working. Really, don't bother me. I'm only on empathy in case I need to contact someone, not to be contacted. This may or may not be analogous to an invisible mode. I tend to think they're different, but this is a gut feeling and not a conclusion that I'm passionate about one way or the other. The point is that with our current icons, if someone is away the red triangle feels like it's discouraging one from sending a message. I don't think that this is the point of the away state, and is more suited for the busy state where one should really think twice before sending. -- --Alex Launi
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