unity-design team mailing list archive

[Mark Shuttleworth <mark@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On 15/03/10 18:01, Jim Rorie wrote:
> Essentially, what the problem is that the spec removed a common desktop
> level interactive loop and replaced it with multiple ad-hoc application
> level paths.  It created the a problem similar to the one that the
> application indicator is trying to solve.
>
> While I like the current notifications, the side effects of this change
> weren't fully pursued.  I suggested a solution on this group back in
> December that would have left the current notifications intact exactly
> as they are, but with a panel icon to extend functionality for those
> that needed it.  It was not received well.  
>
> However, one part mystically appeared in the Me Menu. Hmm. :)
>   
The general pattern is:

 - ethereal notifications for things you can afford to miss
 - indicators for things that should persist (even across a reboot)
 - we'll try to create indicators which serve a general purpose and can
be used by multiple related apps

So, for example, we will handle the "restart required" use case as follows:

 - the power icon will change to an alert colour
 - the Restart... item will gain an alert emblem, and the text will
change to Restart Required...

That gives us:

 - one less popup window
 - one less arbitrary indicator (we're reusing the session indicator)

Mark

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