unity-design team mailing list archive

[Pablo Quirós <mr.polmac@xxxxxxxxx>]

I'm glad to discuss it here, I thought somehow that the Ayatana list was
private... thanks for reading and commenting, guys :)

The concept may seem complex at first, but I think it isn't. What would an
user do if he finds a big new button on the windows? most of them will click
on it and see what happens. Then, user will see a menu with the options he
can do: maximize, minimize, close, switch workspace, etc., AND a higlighted
option "Learn how to use Esfera". Then, he can simply choose the action he
wants to do, but sooner or later he will care and click on "Learn how to use
Esfera", where he will get an explanation on the possibilities it offers,
gestures, etc.

So, the first steps won't be much trouble for him.

And in the future, he will just need to perform little, easy-to-remember,
gestures with the button. They are intuitive: to the top to maximize, to the
bottom to minimize, etc. And he will have instant feedback: action will be
performed on the fly, with a small movement, before he releases Esfera, and
if it's not what he wants he just needs to undo it before releasing it.

The idea is that, at first, there is a coexistence of Esfera with the
maximize-minimize-close buttons to test the user experience with it, but in
the middle term, if it works, it would replace them as this actions can be
done with Esfera.

What's the point on changing something that works for a different concept?
Innovation and usability. If we do it well, we'll be able to do lots of
things with a single button, which brings simplicity and a faster usage -
it's far easier to reach a big, single button, than three little buttons,
and we'll offer more options to the user. And if we do it well, it will be
quicker for him.

@David: I'm glad to see someone has got a similar idea! maybe we can take
elements from both. I like your idea of showing the gestures in the menu,
and I hadn't thought about shaking! Shift-clicking on the button to group
windows is another good idea... Yes, I agree that featuritis is a risk :)
but we could try something with the basic things first, and, if it works,
think about adding more... I also think we are on the way to something!

@Jan: of course, gestures should be carefully thought. In the case you
propose, what I'd do is: if the window is maximized at first; when the
button is clicked and dragged a bit to the button, the window is unmaximized
(before the user releases the button). Then, 3 things can happen:

1) He releases the button. Window stays unmaximized.
2) He moves it again to the top, then releases it. It gets maximized again,
and it stays that way.
3) He moves it more to the bottom. Window is minimized.


2010/3/26 Jan-Christoph Borchardt <jan@xxxxxxxxxxx>

> Gestures can be ambiguous when they rely too much on defined looks:
> I have my GNOME window list in the top panel, the gesture for minimize is
> unclear then. And what is the gesture for unmaximize? It would either
> collide with minimize or be the same as maximize, what would be quite
> confusing.
>
> See also the bug I filed as I was thinking about this:
> https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/metacity/+bug/548684
>
>
>
>  On 26 March 2010 10:46, David Siegel <david.siegel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> Pablo, awesome! I was just sketching something almost exactly like this...
>> My concept was a bit simpler but still very sophisticated:
>>
>>   * Replace Close, Min, Max buttons with just Close and "other"
>>   * Dragging the "other" button slightly to the right and releasing
>> maximizes the window to full the right half of the screen ("maximize
>> right").
>>  * Dragging the "other" button slightly to the left and releasing
>> maximizes the window to full the left half of the screen ("maximize left").
>>   * Dragging down minimizes.
>>   * Dragging up maximizes.
>>   * Dragging and shaking minimizes all other windows.
>>   * Shift-clicking on the "other" button on multiple windows groups them,
>> tiling the group and minimizes all other windows when shift is released.
>>   * Clicking the "other" button shows a menu with all of the actions
>> above, with shapes that demonstrate the associated gestures.
>>
>> As you can see, featuritis immediately sets in when we have an "other"
>> button, but I think we're on to something! Let's continue the discussion and
>> see if anyone can help us prototype :)
>>
>> David
>>
>> 2010/3/26 Mark Shuttleworth <mark@xxxxxxxxxx>
>>
>>>  Hi folks
>>>
>>> Got this interesting proposal from Pablo, and thought it should be sent
>>> to the list rather than handled in private correspondence. It reminds me of
>>> something David Siegel was sketching out, also inspired by the challenge of
>>> "how we can make the most of the new space".
>>>
>>> Pablo, if you're not subscribed to Ayatana, it's the best place to sketch
>>> out a proposal like this.
>>>
>>> I appreciate both the detail in the proposal and the relaxed way it's
>>> pitched!
>>>
>>> Mark
>>>
>>> -------- Original Message --------  Subject: Proposal of new UI element
>>> for windows in Ubuntu: Esfera  Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2010 00:42:45 +0100  From:
>>> Pablo Quirós <mr.polmac@xxxxxxxxx> <mr.polmac@xxxxxxxxx>  To:
>>> mark@xxxxxxxxxx
>>>
>>>
>>>  Hello Mark, I've got a proposal on the buttons' subject. It is a new
>>> element to be placed in the free space on the top-right of the windows.
>>>
>>>  At first I wasn't very convinced on the UI change, and we exchanged a
>>> couple of messages on the matter in the related bug report, but I've thought
>>> about it and I agree with you that this could bring interesting
>>> possibilities.
>>>
>>>  I've designed a concept called Esfera, which I think could be a huge
>>> step forward to the user experience, while bringing innovation to the Ubuntu
>>> desktop. The idea is explained in the attached PDF; I hope you can take the
>>> time to read it or at least send it to the Canonical Design team. Sorry for
>>> the mockup; I'm a disaster using GIMP, but I hope it illustrates the idea.
>>>
>>>  I'd be very pleased to answer any question you may have about it. I'd
>>> just request that if you implement the idea, I appear somewhere as the
>>> author of the concept, and I've be glad if you kept the name I've chosen.
>>>
>>>  Of course, there are lots of ideas that go nowhere, so I'd perfectly
>>> understand if you consider it useless -- just thought it was good and wanted
>>> to share it with you.
>>>
>>>  Regards,
>>>
>>>  Pablo Quirós
>>>
>>>
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>>
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>