I would wager that this week's UI is almost perfect.

I see one/two critical flaw(s) that is probably the unconscious cause of the UI owner's troubles.

Her chat bar and pet frame are up top-left.

Everything else is down below the toon's feet in a nice clean row. The eye can follow all of her concerns without having to move much and she can function quickly - assuming buttons are laid out in a logical eye-strain priority (most commonly used central, and then fanning out from there).

BUT.

The chat bar and pet bar up top will distract the eye away from the focus of activity anytime "something interesting" occurs in them.

The user might never be aware of her eye shifting around - but motion distracts us as a biological response. So scrolling text up there will cause the eye momentarily flicker until another part of the brain tells it to 'pay attention'.
- That will just kind of "mentally lag" the user without her ever knowing "exactly why."


My suggestion: Move them to that space at bottom left, so they complete you clean row along the bottom, and your eye is not 'tempted' as much.

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