unity-design team mailing list archive

[Eduard Grebe <eduardgrebe@xxxxxxxxx>]

I think there are two separate issues with the controversial move of the
window control buttons to the left.

On the whole I am not averse to it, and I believe the logic described here
http://www.ivankamajic.com/?p=281 (namely that most menus are on the top
left etc.) make sense.

However, the decision to place the close button on the inside (i.e. third of
the three buttons) strikes me as very very odd. While the logic of not
placing the most destructive action first makes some sense, it also makes
sense to me that the most significant action that can be taken with respect
to a window (close it) should be in an extremity. So I would have placed the
close button in either the left or right corner, even if this meant that the
most destructive action would be first. Although keeping the minimise and
maximise buttons on the left and moving close to the top right corner
overcomes the latter, it has the disadvantage of splitting the three
controls and increasing complexity.


I wonder if the design team could share more of the thinking behind this and
also let us know whether user testing was conducted in order to weigh up the
various options based on some real usage data.

Best
Eduard

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