unity-design team mailing list archive

[Allan Caeg <allancaeg@xxxxxxxxx>]

Ayatana Listers,
It is a good thing that Ubuntu has been paying much attention to UX through
this project. This is what open source (and technology in general) needs
very much.

I am aware that Ubuntu clearly defined what it is about. It is great that
the members of the community knows what the organization stands for. The
Ubuntu Code of Conduct ( http://www.ubuntu.com/community/conduct ) managed
to put the community together for a common goal. This is a rare thing even
for profitable organizations.

For sure, Canonical's hired Ayatana team has clear goals. However, I have
not seen a list of Ubuntu's User Interface guidelines. The Code of Conduct
tells the user what the Ubuntu community is all about, but not the product.
I am here to propose the construction of the Ubuntu User Experience
Guidelines if it doesn't exist yet. If it already exists, pardon me and
please consider my suggestions if I am to state anything new.

I propose to include the following to the User Experience Guidelienes:
consistency, simplicity, beauty, and the Ubuntu Spirit. By consistency, I am
referring to compliance to the Tango desktop project and GNOME's HIG (
http://library.gnome.org/devel/hig-book/stable/ ). Ubuntu always followed
GNOME's HIG by including applications that will make the desktop experience
consistent. An action that would prove this intention would be the inclusion
of Empathy to Karmic. I know that there are many arguments against this move
but let's leave the discussion to other threads. As for compliance to Tango,
I always felt that this could use some development because the Human icons
always seemed to me to be too glossy to be Tango. The community is
developing the Breathe Icon Set, one that doesn't comply with Tango and
follows KDE's Oxygen look and feel instead. This is a great project as it
adds to the beauty/aesthetics of Ubuntu, an important part of the UX, but it
makes the desktop experience inconsistent. Other artists stick to Tango
because of all the work that has been done. It is the most complete icon set
so developing on its guidelines would be much less painful for the artist.
However, the Breathe icon set is slowly achieving completion with the help
of the Oxygen project. This is going to be a long discussion so I am leaving
this to other threads, but I am just suggesting now that sticking to Tango
for official releases may be the best path at the moment.

As for simplicity, this is achieved by the distro by putting only what is
needed. I do not have too much to say about this issue because I am
personally contented with the state of Ubuntu in this area.

Beauty clearly is one of the focuses of the Ayatana project. This seems to
be most evident through the Notify-OSD. I do not think that I have to
justify the inclusion of this because Mark has been talking saying that
"pretty is a feature."

Lastly, I suggest the inclusion of the "Ubuntu Spirit," which is best
defined by the Code of Conduct. The biggest reason why I am sticking to
Ubuntu, even if using a commercial OS could be easier for me, is my
perception of it. UX consists of how the user perceives the tool. I may be
using Shiki, Sonar or Clearlooks; but I feel that Ubuntu is warm. There was
a thread in the forums where the OP was asking if Ubuntu is worth all the
hassle, my answer was yes because I know that it is a product out of the
love of the volunteers that build it. I stick to Ubuntu because of the
integrity behind it and its community. By using the OS, the user would feel
that others are there for him/her through the links to launchpad (like
"Report a Problem" and "Get Help Online"). This feeling would even be
magnified by joining the community online. I suggest researching more on how
to make the community more accessible to the user to add to the "Ubuntu
feel."

This is probably not a complete list so I invite the community to add.

I got the idea of such a list of guidelines from Google's User Experience
principles ( http://www.google.com/corporate/ux.html ). I suggest reading
that and Apple's ( http://developer.apple.com/ue/ ) to have a clearer idea
on what this list is about.

Again, pardon me if this has already been done and correct me if needed. I'm
just trying to contribute to Ubuntu's UX by proposing this because I haven't
seen such a list of princples yet. I believe that having clearly defined UX
goals will definitely improve the Ubuntu experience.

Best Regards,
Allan Caeg