The new 'round timer' overlay

[combobreaker]

Hey guys,

Noticed during the 189 broadcast that the UFC employed a new graphic for their round timer (whatever the correct terminology may be), in the center of the screen.

There's a good chance I'm retarded... however, I found myself unable to decipher what round it was during the fights? Multiple times. Is it just me?

If someone had a screen-grab that'd be great.

EDIT - here you go - WTF? it legitimately confused me (easy done).

 

[TheComputerGuy]

You can't count to 5?

 

[combobreaker]

You can't count to 5?

I occasionally have to leave the fights for 10-15 minutes at a time during the PPV, Sort out kids etc.

 

[combobreaker]

See, 1 of 5... easy, peasy.

I can fathom that there is now very little need for the 'trunks-colour/fighter-name' graphic.

 

[SilchasRuin]

There's little bars under the timer that show you what round it is.

 

[combobreaker]

There's little bars under the timer that show you what round it is.

You fucking hero, there you go!

 

[Doughbelly]

It's not obvious and a poor human interface choice.

If you're not in the first or final frame and know it, then you don't know if the number of ticked boxes are rounds elapsed or the the round you're in. If you think about it, you can reason it out, but that's why it's a poor choice for design - it forces you to think about it instead of making you aware at a glance.

 

[combobreaker]

It's not obvious and a poor human interface choice.

If you're not in the first or final frame and know it, then you don't know if the number of ticked boxes are rounds elapsed or the the round you're in. If you think about it, you can reason it out, but that's why it's a poor choice for design - it forces you to think about it instead of making you aware at a glance.

Agree 100%, The proof's in my pudding.

So I'm guessing 2 white boxes means that they are currently in round 2? That's how I would read it. Now that i can "see" it.

 

[Evan]

I think what it does ultimately is streamlines the information without needing multiple text versions for different markets (Mexico, Brazil, Europe, etc...). The only real text is the UFC logo and fighter names. That sucks if you live in China or Japan and only read kanji characters, but the UFC's moving into to this weird World Cup soccer "region neutral" approach to make new fans feel like they're part of the sport. Anything to squeeze more profit.

 

[combobreaker]

I think what it does ultimately is streamlines the information without needing multiple text versions for different markets (Mexico, Brazil, Europe, etc...). The only real text is the UFC logo and fighter names. That sucks if you live in China or Japan and only read kanji characters, but the UFC's moving into to this weird World Cup soccer "region neutral" approach to make new fans feel like they're part of the sport. Anything to squeeze more profit.

That aspect didn't even cross my mind. Great point.

The issue I maintain is that I didn't even see the bars until i was privy to them. Perhaps if they made them a tad larger, or a black background behind. Also, having the elapsed round squares in white and the current round in red would alleviate doughbelly's good point.

 

[Doughbelly]

I think what it does ultimately is streamlines the information without needing multiple text versions for different markets (Mexico, Brazil, Europe, etc...). The only real text is the UFC logo and fighter names. That sucks if you live in China or Japan and only read kanji characters, but the UFC's moving into to this weird World Cup soccer "region neutral" approach to make new fans feel like they're part of the sport. Anything to squeeze more profit.

Yeah, but while there is no one correct way to do it, there are likewise a lot of wrong ways to do it. As I was watching this past UFC, it immediately occurred to me that this was wrong.

In a graphic like this, you want to convey as much information as possible using the minimal amount of clutter. This minimalization is good because you want to convey as much information to the widest possible audience at a single glance, but there's a danger of removing too much information and leaving too much to be inferred, which is what has happened here.

Beyond that, (Arabic) numbers are not non-neutral, so anyone can understand them.

Check out the right way to do things (World Cup 2014):

They use numbers to tell what you are seeing and the graphics help you see the context of those numbers.

Whereas with the colored bars, unless you already know what round you're in, you have to think about how many bars there are and what the graphics guy intended to tell you if lit up bars are either the rounds elapsed or round in progress.

That's if you notice the bars in the first place and/or are looking for them.

It's like when you go to a really slickly designed, edgy website or a new phone OS interface. You end up spending an non-insignificant amount of time figuring out what this or that icon means and if they're clickable or not. In an effort to clean up your design, you've taken too much information away from the user.

 

[deviake]

I think what it does ultimately is streamlines the information without needing multiple text versions for different markets (Mexico, Brazil, Europe, etc...). The only real text is the UFC logo and fighter names. That sucks if you live in China or Japan and only read kanji characters, but the UFC's moving into to this weird World Cup soccer "region neutral" approach to make new fans feel like they're part of the sport. Anything to squeeze more profit.

Ah, that makes sense. Good explanation, thanks.

Yeah, but while there is no one correct way to do it, there are likewise a lot of wrong ways to do it. As I was watching this past UFC, it immediately occurred to me that this was wrong.

In a graphic like this, you want to convey as much information as possible using the minimal amount of clutter. This minimalization is good because you want to convey as much information to the widest possible audience at a single glance, but there's a danger of removing too much information and leaving too much to be inferred, which is what has happened here.

Beyond that, (Arabic) numbers are not non-neutral, so anyone can understand them.

Check out the right way to do things (World Cup 2014):

They use numbers to tell what you are seeing and the graphics help you see the context of those numbers.

Whereas with the colored bars, unless you already know what round you're in, you have to think about how many bars there are and what the graphics guy intended to tell you if lit up bars are either the rounds elapsed or round in progress.

That's if you notice the bars in the first place and/or are looking for them.

It's like when you go to a really slickly designed, edgy website or a new phone OS interface. You end up spending an non-insignificant amount of time figuring out what this or that icon means and if they're clickable or not. In an effort to clean up your design, you've taken too much information away from the user.

Also a good post. I hadn't thought about the purpose of the new interface before. Hopefully they work out the kinks.

 

[combobreaker]

I think something like the below would be a good compromise. It doesn't consist of characters. maintains clean and simple modern UI sensibilities.

It also differentiates the current round from previous rounds. Slight backdrop prevents the white boxes from blending in with the octagon mat.

If they wanted to be really sharp they could even have the red bar slowly fill as the round expires.

To be honest, I'd still probably fucking miss it...


Edit - Original for reference -

 

[deviake]

^^

A simple but vast improvement over their current format.

 

[Vinzr]

It's not obvious and a poor human interface choice.

If you're not in the first or final frame and know it, then you don't know if the number of ticked boxes are rounds elapsed or the the round you're in. If you think about it, you can reason it out, but that's why it's a poor choice for design - it forces you to think about it instead of making you aware at a glance.

This. For a first time viewer who has no idea about the UFC, they'd need someone to explain the interface to them, what round it is etc.

Someone would even look at the names and ask "so the guy on the left of the ring is Lawler and the right is MacDonald" during a round, when in fact the two fighters are scrambling around with Rory on the left side of the camera and Robbie on the right.

 

[Which Doctor]

Hey guys,

Noticed during the 189 broadcast that the UFC employed a new graphic for their round timer (whatever the correct terminology may be), in the center of the screen.

There's a good chance I'm retarded... however, I found myself unable to decipher what round it was during the fights? Multiple times. Is it just me?

If someone had a screen-grab that'd be great.

EDIT - here you go - WTF? it legitimately confused me (easy done).

They are tailoring to be VG friendly, not viewer friendly.

 

[Andrew06]

am i the only one who was bothered by it saying lawler was gold? the only gold on his shorts was the text, and that was only visible on his left side

 

[GusLost]

So much technological information to digest in this thread

 

[combobreaker]

So much technological information to digest in this thread

I really miss skeuomorphism. Oh well.

 

[vancitymma]

I complained about this after watching a stream . Watched in hd it's clear as day, that's what I get for being a cheap bastard.