Search Button Improvement
The GW community celebrated the Search Button with such praise, I was sure it would be a success. Instead, trade spam continues unabated and the Search Button, when I remember to click it, normally contains a few lonely diehards trying to make it work. How did it all go so horribly wrong? I think the problem is human evolution.
Our ancient ancestors whose eyes quickly responded to subtle movement passed on their genes, while our visually challenged forebears wound up in saber-tooth tiger tummies.
Thus, while the scrolling trade spam draws our eyes involuntarily -- causing the random trade or joining of a group -- the lifeless search button is sadly ignored.
The Solution: Create some visual signal when there is an unviewed entry in the search button list. The way I envision this is to have one icon representing each of the Search button categories. For example, there could be a little currency sign indicating someone has a posting under “Trade.” It is greyed out if there are no trade postings, but it gently pulsates from grey to green if there is an entry there - not fast enough to be annoying, just fast enough to draw the eye. If you click the search window and reclose, it goes back to grey. A new posting will trigger a new pulsation.
I think this simple change could revitalize the use of what I once saw as the best chance to cut trade spam – the forgotten Search Button.
edited for grammar.
Last edited by hallomik; Feb 24, 2007 at 12:01 AM // 00:01..
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