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Re: Ubuntu User Experience Guidelines

 

Borrowing heavily from the format and content of Google's UX principles
( http://www.google.com/corporate/ux.html ), below is my proposed draft
of the Ubuntu UX Guidelines. Before reading it, please keep in mind that
this (very) rough draft is based exclusively on my experiences with
Ubuntu (the OS), and the community so I am encouraging everyone to
contribute what is fit.
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The Ubuntu User Experience is usable, beautiful, simple, consistent,
customizeable and warm.


1. Linux 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, or race. With a team that
focuses on usability and a group of translators for localization, it is
designed to be easy and pleasurable to use for everyone out of the box.


2. "Pretty is a feature"
The need for beauty is self-explanatory. Ubuntu's artists believe that
beauty is an important factor that improves the user's experience.


3. 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 would simply be
obtrusive to the user experience.


4. Guided by consistent standards
The open source world has a very wide variety of options. As a GNU/Linux
distribution, the Ubuntu team handpicked a collection of applications
that would create a consistent experience. By default, Ubuntu includes
application that follow the same standards. Thanks to the GNOME project,
the Ubuntu desktop has applications that use the GTK+ toolkit or that
adapt to its look and feel. 


4. Free in every sense
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 may follow consistent standards, but
Ubuntu can be customized very easily to fit the needs of its users. It
may come with default applications and configurations, but it is also
designed to be tweaked very easily to satisfy different needs. The
Ubuntu community recognizes and promotes individualism./


5. Humanity Towards Others
Probably, the most important user experience feature of Ubuntu is its
warmth. The Ubuntu desktop encourages its user to collaborate with the
community by asking for help and contributing. Other than the sense of
community, Ubuntu's 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.
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Again, this is a very rough draft. I would love to hear your feedback :)




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