Re: [Ayatana] Unity: An interactive Mock up of GUI ideas

[Michael Jonker <citizen.jonker@xxxxxxxxx>]

Some great ideas are emerging:

1)    "Also when one of the main menus [2][3][4] is open, clicking on the menu icon should toggle between that menu and the quickaccess view [1]"

Implemented in the Mock Up - Wow, adds a whole new level of access. Everything is either on or off. Everything is one click away.

2)    "There could be a third optional mode when the focused application is fullscreen, but you still see the Unity launcher to the left. My Nokia N800 works that way, and it's great for rapid switching between applications and to see context and state of applications in the background. The N800 has a dedicated button to swap this mode and fullscreen, but I think in Unity it would be enough having a "pin" icon in the launcher panel to enter this mode."

I wouldn't call it another mode - just a user preference. A little pin icon in the side menu (what is the correct name for it?) should do the trick nicely. A lot of work in the HTML for the Mock Up though.

3)    "Please consider also integrating the symbolic approach Ayatana has chosen, especially regarding colors. Symbolic design considers rather the symbolic (purpose/context) significance of an item, than it's absolute appearance."

A1, +1, Amen!!!! This level of graphic design is not my strength. I was thinking maybe everything is in greyscale until it is 'switched on'. In this state it is in colour, thus active. It will be very easy to tell at a glance what is active, where you are in the menu map, etc. Please grab the Gimp file and post suggestions.

4)    "Closing multiple windows could be implemented by simply adding an X in the upper left corner of window thumbnails when using workspaces or scale/expose"

Yes. I think Gnome Shell has done this nicely. Could also work with showing the toolbar, as suggested by Diego, but this may be a bit small on a small screen.


Does anybody have ideas of how we can host this kind of Mock Up and have anybody in Ayatana who wants collaborate on it? Maybe HTML is not the most flexible platform - it is easy though! Possibly could also be and OpenOffice 'Impress' file.

I have put all the HTML and images here if anybody wants to implement ideas:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1306731/unity.tar.gz

The Gimp file link is in the top of the thread.


On Mon, 2010-09-13 at 10:20 +0100, Michael Jonker wrote:
>     I have put up an interactive mock up of some of the ways I feel Unity
>     can evolve here:
>     
>     http://www.reviveyourpc.ie/unity/welcome.html
>     
>     Give each screen a bit of time to cache - it is just linked html.
>     
>     The key features are:
>     
>           * Fully navigable by mousepad tap (therefore screen touch)
>           * Desktop is utilised productively
>           * Only two modes - 1)Application open  2)System GUI root and
>             quickaccess exposed.
>           * Apps get maximum real estate
>     
>     For the mock up - in application mode - switching is done by clicking on
>     the Ubuntu logo @ top left. This could be a mouse gesture or hover-over
>     in reality. On touch it could be a shake of the device optional to
>     touching the logo.
>     
>     If anybody wants to tinker, I have put the Gimp file for the screens here:
>     
>     http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1306731/Unity.xcf
>     
>     Michael