Re: [Ayatana] Ideas for Unity Design Tweaks

[Evan Huus <eapache@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 4:27 PM, Anthony Scire <aaaantoine@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I've been using Unity for about a week now -- which makes me perfectly
> qualified to critique every nuance of it! ;-)

About as much as the rest of us :)

> But seriously, overall, I like it.  Maximizing a window has beautiful
> results, and I really enjoy the use of Meta+# to switch quickly to
> other applications (when I remember to do it).  I spend a lot of time,
> however, working with multiple windows in a sort of jumbled mess.  But
> there's a method to my madness.  And I'm not the only one with
> long-standing personal desktop usage traditions, as I'm sure you're
> all aware.
>
> Anyway, the global menu bar is not compatible with the way I work,
> especially since I don't know if a window has a menu until I hover my
> mouse over the top bar.  Also, I've long been of the habit of putting
> certain windows (*cough* IM windows) all the way toward the bottom
> right of the screen, which makes that window's menu appearing in the
> upper left all the more annoying.
>
> My mockup applies nearly exclusively to scenarios where there isn't a
> maximized window.  There are four main changes, as follows:
>
> 1. At some point recently, I read a Unity usability study which
> indicated that the Home Button is not conspicuous enough to new users.
>  My solution to this is to make it as large as the other buttons on
> the Launcher panel, but do not depart from the top panel.  The idea I
> have is that, by default, it will be a big, round button, as shown in
> the mockup. But if both
>
>    - a window is maximized, and
>    - the Launcher panel is hidden (options allow the Launcher panel
> to never hide),
>
> it will shrink to fit the top panel as it currently does.  I imagine a
> transitional animation of the logo growing / shrinking as the mouse
> cursor is moved into the upper left corner -- the same action which
> most quickly invokes the launcher panel when it is hidden.

This is more or less identical to part of the idea I put forward
recently on this list at [1], prompted by the same study at [2]. Given
that the two of us have come up with the same solution more or less
independently, it's obviously a good one ;)

> 2. The menu bar should, in some way, still be built into its window.
> The way I propose is to have a button appear on the title bar, a-la
> Firefox 4.  Hovering the mouse over this button will reveal the menu.
> Mouse actions on the "button" should be the same as any other part of
> the title bar, just that the mouse-over event will reveal the
> drop-down menus stacked vertically.  The label on the button should be
> the same as currently appears in the global menu bar, i.e. "Firefox
> Web Browser".  Then next to that, if the text is any different, the
> regular window title will appear.
>
> Hitting Alt should drop down this menu, as well.

I'm not convinced about this. I know several people who aren't happy
with the FF4-style menus because it requires an extra click to access
anything (confused about the hover you mention - would the user have
to hover, wait, then move sideways without leaving the window to
access menus? seems finicky). Also, this would presumably face the
same discovery issues as the global menu does now, as documented in
the usability study.

The current system is definitely a problem though.

> 3. With #2 done, the section of the top panel containing the global
> menu can be removed entirely, leaving only the Indicators and Home
> Button.  This would increase workspace, particularly on high
> resolution wide screens.  The indicators will always be visible, and
> there should probably be some rounded edge cut-off where the
> indicators end.

I like this, in general, but it is of course predicated on the final
solution to #2.

> 4. Not entirely related, but the Workspace Switcher should not be in
> the middle of the Launcher panel by default.  It should be positioned
> statically, either just below the Home Button or just above the Trash
> (I understand Mark insists that the Trash be at the bottom, no matter
> what).  This will make it slightly more accessible via mouse, as its
> position can be memorized, regardless of how many applications are
> open.

I agree. Where it is now is strange, especially since it can't be
moved (whereas the icons both above and below it can).

Just my two cents,
Evan

[1] https://lists.launchpad.net/ayatana/msg05586.html
[2] http://design.canonical.com/2011/04/unity-benchmark-usability-april-2011/