Re: [Ayatana] Ubuntu User Experience Guidelines

[Allan Caeg <allancaeg@xxxxxxxxx>]

With the responses to the thread
( http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1279499 ) and your
suggestions, here is another draft. This certainly isn't polished and
there's a lot to add. 

Feedback please :)

___________________

The Ubuntu User Experience is aimed to be usable, helpful, unobtrusive,
evolving, stable, powerful beautiful, simple, consistent, customizeable,
and warm.


It Just Works for Human Beings

The Ubuntu community brings to the world a GNU/Linux operating system
that is meant to be used by human beings. Ubuntu is aimed at being
usable to everyone regardless of age, culture, race, or any other
classification. The user experience team considers the differences
brought by those classifications to make the Ubuntu desktop just work
for the human being.


A Tool to Get Things Done

Ubuntu is a tool for human beings to achieve their goals. The goal is to
be unobtrusive by working for the user instead of being something that
requires to be worked on by the user. As it evolves, it requires less
and less tweaking from the user. 


"Pretty is a Feature"

The need for beauty is self-explanatory. Aesthetics is an important
factor that affects the user's perception of the product and provides a
desirable ambience for the user.


Keeping it Simple

Despite aiming to build a complete operating system out of the box,
people behind Ubuntu are keeping things as simple as possible. The whole
system that is fit in a CD is trimmed of bloat that could be
obtrusive to a desirable user experience.


Guided by Consistent Standards

The open source world has a very wide variety of options. As a GNU/Linux
distribution, the Ubuntu team should handpick a collection of
applications and configurations that would create a consistent
experience. By default, Ubuntu should include applications that follow
the same standards. Thanks to the GNOME project, among many others, the
Ubuntu desktop has applications that use the GTK+ toolkit or that adapt
to its look and feel.


Free in Every 

Ubuntu is a Free (and Libre) Open Source Software. Other than being free
of charge for the user to own and use, it can be modified and
redistributed. The default desktop should follow consistent standards,
but Ubuntu can be customized very easily to fit the needs and wants of
its users. It may come with default applications and configurations, but
it should also be designed to be tweaked very easily to satisfy unique
needs and wants. The Ubuntu community recognizes and promotes
individualism.


Ubuntu Loves the Human Being

A significant user experience feature of Ubuntu is its
warmth. This warmth is displayed by its artwork. Unlike most
operating systems, Ubuntu's look and feel is not the traditional
"kitchenware." People behind Ubuntu aim to let the user feel that the
computer is not foreign to the human being. The Ubuntu desktop
encourages its user to collaborate with the community by asking for help
and contributing.


A Product of a Circle of Friends Guided by Integrity

The community behind Ubuntu is a "Circle of Friends" with a common goal.
The Ubuntu logo says it all. Ubuntu users attest that they stick to
Ubuntu, the operating system, because of the people behind it. Its
leader spends a fortune to produce this free operating system out of the
belief that free software process is the right way of building software
and its potential to define the average person's operating system user
experience. A large group joined the community to promote the same
cause, a group that is guided by a <link>fine code of conduct</link>.