Yeah, no, it's a UI blog.
Action Bars Are Important, and So Are You!
Posted 04/06/09 at 1:16 AM by Sovereignty
At the outset, I'll concede that this is a recycled post from omgphatloots.org; and recycling a post is a pretty shitty way to start a new blog. That said, this topic engendered some of the most intelligent and thoughtful discussions on UI design I've seen in a while. I intend to use this space to discuss the more 'mature' side of critically evaluating the user interface in World of Warcraft. I've got some other, fresher, posts in the pipelines for the future - consider this a throwback.
-Sov
So, there hasn't really been a lot for me to write about in terms of good UI's, so I'm going to turn to a much less popular feature and beat everyone over the head with my thoughts on UI layout and customization. I'd like to start with action bars, since they're typically the first thing to go in any UI, and I think they have a lot of value which is replicated in other addons where it's truly not necessary. This is a picture of one of my action bars, using the mod Dominos by Tuller, the Caith skin with Button Facade by jjSheets, OmniCC by Tuller, and RedRange by Iriel (although RedRange is not displayed in the image).
The Basics
The basic reason to keep your ABs visible is to answer one question: "x skill, can I use it?" Some people may say that you should keep ABs visible to click, which I think is pretty much a load, but some people do that. Because I view clicking as less than optimal, and I'm trying to min-max my UI, I won't address that issue any further than I already have.
There are several factors that influence if a skill can be used: conditional usage (i.e. overpower, execute, hammer of wrath), power requirements (the rage/mana/energy needed to use the skill), range limitations, and cooldowns. Because spell/skill usage is the cornerstone of the game, knowing when you can or cannot use a skill is absolutely important. I want to go through each one of these and talk about alternatives to the action bar, and why I think the action bar solution is superior. But first, let me tip my hand a little.
While each individual solution to skill conditionals may be "superior" in a vacuum, they are by no means superior in the aggregate. In other words, Action Bars are better at displaying all conditions for usability than the four alternatives combined. While it's seductive to use the alternatives as your only means of information display, the total venture will be a net-loss for your playability. This comes with a caveat, which I will address at the end (I should really do teasers for television, what with my ability to tell you what I'm going to say without saying it!)
Conditional 1: Power
This is the most common of the four conditionals, especially if you're playing a non-mana using class. If you don't have the adequate rage/energy/mana, you cannot use the skill even if the other conditions are met. In the image I posted above, power is indicated by lightness of the icon - if the icon is dark, I cannot use the ability. The alternative display method is obviously your unitframes. At first glance, the unitframes are an attractive option for displaying power conditions, because you're almost always looking at your unitframes during combat. However, they come with a significant drawback: they don't actually tell you if you can use the skill, they simply give you the first piece of information you need to figure that out.
Now, this drawback is not nearly as bad as I make it out to be. Obviously any caster is going to be able to approximate the amount of mana needed to cast a spell, and the ONLY scenario that they would need the action bar for power-checking is in low mana situations. Rogues are also in a similar position, because energy gains are static outside of the occasional combat potency proc. Warriors, on the other hand, are a completely different story. Because warriors gain rage at a variable rate, depending on damage out and damage in, and are constantly draining their rage bar to near-zero, the icons are a much better "quick" reference than having to display rage numbers and dissect their meaning.
Conditional 2: Range
The case for range-checking on action bars is much easier than power, because spells have different ranges. PitBull's range checking is great if you're only casting one spell with a static range, but not if you want to cast multiple spells with a differing ranges. For example, on Aran an Elemental shaman would want to use their shock range as the deciding factor for range, while on Prince they would want to use lightning bolt at max range. Obviously the nuances in range can only be achieved by the AB, which can tell you the range on both.
Conditional 3: Conditions!
The alternative to condition notification is probably scrolling combat text. Since I've raided as a warrior more than anything else, I can attest to the level of annoyance at seeing "EXECUTE NOW" flash across my screen in the largest and redest letters imaginable. This method is fine for something like execute, because once you can use it one time you can continue to use it all the time. Revenge and overpower, on the other hand, require a constant monitoring for mob dodge. Of course you can see the same message over and over again, but the solution of icon highlighting on the action bars seems significantly more elegant.
Conditional 4: Cooldowns
Cooldown bars are stupid. There, I said it. Cooldown Buttons are even stupider. Action bars are always the better option here. First, they display the global cooldown, which is very very important for spammy classes like rogues. Second, you don't have to play the "search the giant list for the one cooldown I need, only to find that it's not there, but maybe you missed it" game. If rebirth is always 3rd over on AB, then you only look at the 3rd button and know immediately a) if it's ready or b) how long you have to wait until it is. It also shows interrupts without spamming every skill you have in some ridiculous bar list.
lol, wut?
The point isn't that conditionals on ABs are better than MSBT conditional announcements, because that ignores the added functionality of having everything you want to know about skill usage located in one place. That's the key difference between having an awfully cluttered UI and one that gives the information you want succinctly and in an aggregate fashion. Just think about it: there is one determination you want to make - "can I use this skill?!" Does it make sense to look at 15 different places on your screen to determine that information? Hell no! It makes sense to look at once place on your screen and be done with it.
-Sov
So, there hasn't really been a lot for me to write about in terms of good UI's, so I'm going to turn to a much less popular feature and beat everyone over the head with my thoughts on UI layout and customization. I'd like to start with action bars, since they're typically the first thing to go in any UI, and I think they have a lot of value which is replicated in other addons where it's truly not necessary. This is a picture of one of my action bars, using the mod Dominos by Tuller, the Caith skin with Button Facade by jjSheets, OmniCC by Tuller, and RedRange by Iriel (although RedRange is not displayed in the image).
The Basics
The basic reason to keep your ABs visible is to answer one question: "x skill, can I use it?" Some people may say that you should keep ABs visible to click, which I think is pretty much a load, but some people do that. Because I view clicking as less than optimal, and I'm trying to min-max my UI, I won't address that issue any further than I already have.
There are several factors that influence if a skill can be used: conditional usage (i.e. overpower, execute, hammer of wrath), power requirements (the rage/mana/energy needed to use the skill), range limitations, and cooldowns. Because spell/skill usage is the cornerstone of the game, knowing when you can or cannot use a skill is absolutely important. I want to go through each one of these and talk about alternatives to the action bar, and why I think the action bar solution is superior. But first, let me tip my hand a little.
While each individual solution to skill conditionals may be "superior" in a vacuum, they are by no means superior in the aggregate. In other words, Action Bars are better at displaying all conditions for usability than the four alternatives combined. While it's seductive to use the alternatives as your only means of information display, the total venture will be a net-loss for your playability. This comes with a caveat, which I will address at the end (I should really do teasers for television, what with my ability to tell you what I'm going to say without saying it!)
Conditional 1: Power
This is the most common of the four conditionals, especially if you're playing a non-mana using class. If you don't have the adequate rage/energy/mana, you cannot use the skill even if the other conditions are met. In the image I posted above, power is indicated by lightness of the icon - if the icon is dark, I cannot use the ability. The alternative display method is obviously your unitframes. At first glance, the unitframes are an attractive option for displaying power conditions, because you're almost always looking at your unitframes during combat. However, they come with a significant drawback: they don't actually tell you if you can use the skill, they simply give you the first piece of information you need to figure that out.
Now, this drawback is not nearly as bad as I make it out to be. Obviously any caster is going to be able to approximate the amount of mana needed to cast a spell, and the ONLY scenario that they would need the action bar for power-checking is in low mana situations. Rogues are also in a similar position, because energy gains are static outside of the occasional combat potency proc. Warriors, on the other hand, are a completely different story. Because warriors gain rage at a variable rate, depending on damage out and damage in, and are constantly draining their rage bar to near-zero, the icons are a much better "quick" reference than having to display rage numbers and dissect their meaning.
Conditional 2: Range
The case for range-checking on action bars is much easier than power, because spells have different ranges. PitBull's range checking is great if you're only casting one spell with a static range, but not if you want to cast multiple spells with a differing ranges. For example, on Aran an Elemental shaman would want to use their shock range as the deciding factor for range, while on Prince they would want to use lightning bolt at max range. Obviously the nuances in range can only be achieved by the AB, which can tell you the range on both.
Conditional 3: Conditions!
The alternative to condition notification is probably scrolling combat text. Since I've raided as a warrior more than anything else, I can attest to the level of annoyance at seeing "EXECUTE NOW" flash across my screen in the largest and redest letters imaginable. This method is fine for something like execute, because once you can use it one time you can continue to use it all the time. Revenge and overpower, on the other hand, require a constant monitoring for mob dodge. Of course you can see the same message over and over again, but the solution of icon highlighting on the action bars seems significantly more elegant.
Conditional 4: Cooldowns
Cooldown bars are stupid. There, I said it. Cooldown Buttons are even stupider. Action bars are always the better option here. First, they display the global cooldown, which is very very important for spammy classes like rogues. Second, you don't have to play the "search the giant list for the one cooldown I need, only to find that it's not there, but maybe you missed it" game. If rebirth is always 3rd over on AB, then you only look at the 3rd button and know immediately a) if it's ready or b) how long you have to wait until it is. It also shows interrupts without spamming every skill you have in some ridiculous bar list.
lol, wut?
The point isn't that conditionals on ABs are better than MSBT conditional announcements, because that ignores the added functionality of having everything you want to know about skill usage located in one place. That's the key difference between having an awfully cluttered UI and one that gives the information you want succinctly and in an aggregate fashion. Just think about it: there is one determination you want to make - "can I use this skill?!" Does it make sense to look at 15 different places on your screen to determine that information? Hell no! It makes sense to look at once place on your screen and be done with it.
Total Comments 5
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Coincidentally, I read this article on your blog a couple months ago. I'd tried all manner of cooldown-tracking methods, including bars, buttons, and ready alerts. I inevitably found myself ignoring all these things and looking down into the bottom-right corner of my screen, where I had buried my action bars under the justification that it wasn't important to have quick visual access to them. After reading your article I simply caved and placed my action bars (two of them) in an obvious position directly below my player frame near the center of the screen.
One important factor that a lot of people miss in UI design is efficiency of information access. When you use cooldown bars or buttons, determining the cooldown status of an ability requires a linear search of the bars/buttons to determine whether the ability is there or not. When using action bars, you know precisely where the ability is bound, so it is a constant time search to visually locate the ability and determine its cooldown status. Another point regarding cooldown bars or buttons is that your brain does not do very well at processing the absence of things. If an ability is on cooldown, although you have to perform a linear search, it's not going to take that long (only a couple abilities will usually be on cooldown simultaneously), and you will immediately be able to establish "this is on cooldown with X:XX remaining." If it's not on cooldown, you will search the list, not find it there, and your brain will be confused for an instant because you were looking for ability X and didn't find it. All of this additional time you're spending is adding to your reaction time (even in small amounts, it adds up), reducing your ability to play. |
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What I have found to be useful in achieving the dual goals keeping both a minimalistic UI and allowing for easy tracking of cooldowns is to create a separate action bar directly below the player unit frame and place all my cooldown buttons there. This lets me hide my actual action bars, freeing up a lot of screen realestate, while also putting the 6-7 cooldowns in close proximity to the powerbar so that all important skill-related information (CDs, power, debuffs) are in the same location.
Edit: For example, on my main (resto shaman) I don't need to know anything cooldown-related about CH, LHW, HW, or Earth Shield, so the action bar basically shows Heroism, Mana Potions, Mana Tide, Riptide, Tidal Force, and Nature's Swiftness. Shrinking the number of buttons on Dominos really helps free up some extra space. |
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Updated 04/06/09 at 8:49 PM by Philondra |
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I agree with your sentiments totally. I have found nothing else that I can glean information from as quickly or efficiently as action bars. What's more is that setting up this information is simple. I don't need different settings/mods for whatever class I am currently playing, I can just throw the ability up on the bar and I am set. Replacing this functionality would require several different addons that ultimately look more cluttered and are less customizable than action bars.
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I happened to read this around the same time I was taking a look at stratfu.com and came across Kyth's UI: Kyth's UI -- 12/08
Unless something is completely slipping from memory, mages appear to be an interesting case in which many of the arguments (and I agreed with your post pretty much entirely) happen to be moot. The mage rotations, for all specs, simply don't rely on cooldowns as part of the rotation - there are long, 2min-ish cooldowns where I can't imagine a timing bar being bad. Arcane Barrage has a very short cooldown but it is less than the duration you'd ever want to use it in most practical situations. But if I were to try to use this UI on my hunter - I have 6sec and 10sec shots that are important and would be better suited for non-hidden action bars. I guess my long winded point is, the mechanics of a given class affect the validity of these statements? |
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I reject your argument in part, and accept it in part
 You'll notice that she does have a few things visible on her screen - and her justification from the description of her UI indicates that she keeps them there (a) to see stacks of some things and (b) for some things she clicks like evocation. So, she hasn't gotten rid of them entirely =P Mages are a pure spam class, and since their DPS isn't based on a conditional like a cooldown or combo points, their needs are substantially different. I still think the benefits offered by range check and cooldown monitoring all in one place are better than the cluttered appearance of Kyth's UI, but it obviously isn't diminishing her ability to play like a pro. |
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Recent Blog Entries by Sovereignty
- I Don't Love it (05/28/09)
- Min-Maxing Your UI | Part Two: Design (05/05/09)
- Min-Maxing Your UI |Part One: Introduction (04/22/09)
- Video Tutorial - PitBull4 (04/12/09)
- Action Bars Are Important, and So Are You! (04/06/09)
