My mistake, it appears that a thread regarding alternatives had already been started: https://lists.launchpad.net/ayatana/msg06273.html
Apologies for the noise. On Mon, Aug 15, 2011 at 2:24 PM, topdownjimmy <topdownji...@gmail.com> wrote: > It looks like a slight adaptation of Evan Huus' mockup is making its > way into Oneiric. > https://lists.launchpad.net/ayatana/msg05586.html > > I'm curious, what is the justification behind this change, versus some > other way of solving the "Dash/Home Button isn't obvious" problem > (http://design.canonical.com/2011/04/unity-benchmark-usability-april-2011/)? > The bug report (http://pad.lv/764771) doesn't seem to have any > discussion attached to it, and I think Evan's is the only mailing list > thread that talks about it at any length. > > I just feel uncertain that all the alternatives have been explored here: > > What if the Home Button were orange? > What if it were more curved with a stronger gradient to have a more > button-like appearance? > What if it glowed when the mouse cursor hovered over it? > What if its importance were more strongly emphasized in the > installation slideshow? > What if the system started with the mouse cursor hovering over the > Home Button, just as Mac OS X starts with the mouse cursor hovering > their Apple button? > What about this other mockup?: > https://blueprints.launchpad.net/unity-shell/+spec/better-ubuntu-button-bfb > > And these are just a few ideas... > > I share the concern with some people that moving the Home Button into > the launcher de-emphasizes its centrality to the Unity Shell, and it > seems to me that some more subtle changes might accomplish the same > thing without breaking the expectations of people who have already > gotten used to Natty. > > -Jay > > On Fri, Apr 22, 2011 at 6:17 PM, Evan Huus <eapa...@gmail.com> wrote: >> Hi, I'm new to this list so please let me know if I'm out of turn >> somehow, but I have a few ideas for future incarnations of Unity. >> >> I was reading the Canonical Design blog post at [1], and two >> particular problems caught my eye: >> >> - >> >> First, many users seemed to have difficulty finding settings. >> Currently these are accessed through the Applications lens or through >> the top-right shutdown menu. Neither of these are particularly >> intuitive, since users don't consider settings dialogues to be >> applications (even though they *technically* are). The solution that >> makes the most sense to me is to add a third lens to the default >> Applications and Files lenses, a System Settings lens. The icon can be >> the default magnifying glass with a stylized gear in the middle. >> >> I'm not sure the best way of implementing it, but it ought to be >> fairly simple to have it search only those .desktop files which would >> appear in the System->Preferences or System->Admin menus in previous >> incarnations. Another question is whether we leave those .desktop >> files in the Applications lens or take them out: I'm not sure which >> would be best. The obvious keyboard shortcut is Super-S, which >> conflicts with the workspace launcher, that would also have to be >> dealt with somehow. >> >> Still, details aside this seems like an intuitive and obvious solution >> to the problem. >> >> - >> >> The second idea I had was for the bfb and launcher, since there are >> several usability problems the study revealed with it: >> - mousing over the bfb to reveal the launcher is unintuitive >> - clicking the bfb to reveal the dash is unintuitive >> - people mistook the nautilus launcher as something more, since it has >> a 'home' logo and is the first launcher by default. >> >> I think all of these problems can be solved by a single slightly >> different design. >> >> By default, I believe that the bfb should be just another launcher >> item with a mono ubuntu logo, fixed at the top like the trash is fixed >> at the bottom. The launcher bar should extend all the way to the top >> of the screen (where the bfb currently is), cutting the top panel >> short at the left side. I've done a rough mockup of what this might >> look like at [2]. >> >> When the launcher needs to be hidden, the animation should make it >> roll or fold up into the bfb, which shrinks and transforms into it's >> current state (part of the panel). This should make it obvious that >> mousing over the bfb reveals the launcher (via a similar roll-down >> animation). >> >> The fact that the bfb is just another launcher item when the launcher >> is revealed should make the dash more obviously >> clickable/discoverable. >> >> Changing the bfb like this will also help avoid confusion, since the >> nautilus launcher will no longer be the top, and 'primary' icon by >> default. >> >> I'm fairly confident that this solution solves the mentioned problems, >> but it probably has issues of its own. All comments are welcome. >> >> - >> >> Just my two cents, >> Evan >> >> [1] http://design.canonical.com/2011/04/unity-benchmark-usability-april-2011/ >> [2] http://dl.dropbox.com/u/171647/Unity_New_BFB.png >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ayatana >> Post to : ayatana@lists.launchpad.net >> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ayatana >> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp >> > _______________________________________________ Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ayatana Post to : ayatana@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ayatana More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
