Calendar colors on iPhone cause bad user experience

Originator:simon.pride
Number:rdar://6394469 Date Originated:11/21/2008
Status:Open Resolved:
Product:iPhone Product Version:2.2
Classification:Usability Reproducible:Always
 
Summary
Use of random calendar colors on iPhone damages usability

Steps to reproduce
Set colors for calendar in iCal. Sync to iPhone. 

Expected Results
Calendars have the same colors on iPhone as in iCal

Actual result
Colors are different and arbitrarily chosen. Sometimes two iCal calendars have the same color on iPhone.

Regression
All versions tested

Notes
When calendars are synced between iCal and iPhone via iTunes, iTunes assigns arbitrary colors to the calendars on iPhone. These colors cannot be changed, and do not match the colors chosen in iCal. On occasion, iTunes will assign two calendars the same arbitrarily-chosen color, making them functionally indistinguishable on iPhone.

This is terrible user interface design because users become accustomed to the 'meaning' of the color of the calendar and use it in recognition of the calendar layout. The mental 'wrench' involved in translating color recognition between two instances of the same calendar data imposes a unnecessary cognitive load on the user.

Suggested solutions:
1. Allow the user to set the color of iPhone calendars.

2. If the intention is not to allow the user control of the calendar color, for simplicity of implementation on iPhone, then the logical solution is to use the same color as specified in iCal.

3. If the synchronization API does not expose this value, then the algorithm for assigning colors should take care not to assign the same color to two or more calendars. Colors should be assigned in a predictable way (e.g. red for first calendar in iCal, Green for second, etc), so that the user has at least the chance of making a one-time change to their iCal calendars' colors in order to make them the same in both applications.

Comments

This appears to already have been logged under another Radar and is known to Apple.

By simon.pride at Dec. 5, 2008, 3:49 a.m. (reply...)

Wasn't this fixed in 2.1 or there abouts?

By mike.akers at Nov. 22, 2008, 6:08 p.m. (reply...)

No. It's current. The colors are random

By simon.pride at Dec. 5, 2008, 3:47 a.m. (reply...)

The “expected results” do not occur in 2.1 or 2.2.

By jens.ayton at Nov. 22, 2008, 11:33 p.m. (reply...)

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