Hello All,
There's now a healthy amount of issue types in my Jira instance and I've started to edit the avatars to help them become visually distinct from each other.
I have a few questions for my fellow Jira admins: How do you handle avatars for issue types? Do you use custom avatars? Simply stick to the Atlassian provided images? Or is everything a "task" with a blue checkmark?
Personal Take (to show I've thunk about this):
I've been using ChatGPT to create quick avatars that match the theme of the issue type. For example, a "lesson learned" or an "OFI" might have a book/lightbulb while a contract deliverable will be a piece of paper. For invoices, I use the Atlassian provided "$" avatar so users know that's related to money. For documents, I use the purple page with three lines.
One challenge I've faced is answering "what makes a good avatar?" Text isn't legible at all for an avatar, and there's only so many ways to create informative icons, especially for a non-artistically inclined fella like me.
I'm currently using a mixture of provided images, and custom avatars. I worry that I'll eventually run out of the provided avatars, or that too many issues will be tied to one image. If a user sees a purple page icon and thinks "Does it mean this or that?" it can lead to confusion on what they're supposed to be doing.
I also fully loop the thought around into, does it even matter? If the summary and description are clear, does the issue type's avatar really matter, or is it a "nice to have"?
Closing Thoughts:
I believe it matters to a certain extent because the ease of usability of a system influences user buy-in. If users can associate a specific color or image with a unit of work, it’s significantly faster than reading the summary or description of the card.
Furthermore, if everything is a blue checkmark task, users might start asking, "What am I looking at?" Their attention could shift to the key, summary, description, or maybe a component, depending on how that Jira instance is set up. Looking at these four different areas takes more time than a quick glance at the avatar.
Au Revoir (Go USA Go!):
I'm looking forward to your thoughts and suggestions! If anyone has recommendations on books to read or other resources to dive into this idea, please offer them up! Knowledge is power.
