unity-design team mailing list archive

[Jimmy Forrester-Fellowes <jimmy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello all,

I've been a little out of the loop as I've been travelling for the past 6
month but when I read unity was to be shipped with ubuntu desktop I wanted
to give it a whirl on the netbook/laptop I have with me.  My experience so
far has been a positive one, I like the idea and think there is a lot
of potential here. It feels like a modern & forward thinking approach to a
desktop and I'm very excited to see where it will go. I've found a couple of
gripes with it (mostly with basic file manger tasks) and come up with a
couple of suggestions: (these may already be resolved as I'm using packaged
unity on 10.10).


*The Ubuntu button*
*
*

   - The first thing that hit me was why is the ubuntu button so small
   compared with launcher buttons? As it's now the most important button on my
   dekstop it seems a little understated. How would it look if the launcher bar
   took up all the vertical space, and the first square button was a nice fancy
   ubuntu button that didn't ever move (even if the launcher bar scrolls)?


   - I can't seem to find a keyboard-shortcut to open the unity shell.


*
Unity Shell*
*
*

   - I'm using a 1.3ghz netbook/laptop and I've found opening the unity
   shell quite laggy, once I start typing in the search box it gets worse.
   Opening the shell will be done so many times every day so it really should
   be instant. Maybe it could be pre-loaded in the background and made visible
   when it's opened?


   - When you click on the ubuntu button you get the main unity shell.
   Search is of course the main action here but those large icons underneath
   (Internet, Office, Games etc) are for me at least, wasted space. I always
   know what application/file I'm looking for and searching is now the fastest
   way for me to get to it so I have no need to have those big icons (although
   my parents would most likely use them). Could you offer users a way to
   utilise/customise this space? Personally I'd like to see my gmail inbox
   summary, and weekly agenda from my calendar. Perhaps even gwibber
   integration so I can get an overview of my social-networking sites?



*File management*
* *

   - I don't know if unity is planning/working on phasing nautilus out of
   ubuntu but that's the impression I get. I think it would be great if unity
   had the functionality of nautilus/dolphin but at the moment it doesn't have
   some very basic & critical features. This has probably been my biggest issue
   with unity. I found myself using unity shell to find my documents but then
   having to load nautilus up as unity didn't have the features i needed to
   work with them. When my less computer savvy friends/family click 'Files and
   Folders' and see a screen full of their documents, photos & videos, they
   will expect to be able to accomplish basic tasks (*copy, paste, rename,
   order by, see full filenames, open files with alternative applications*)
   there and then as they are accustomed to. Unity shell feels like it's half
   way to being a file-manager but doesn't quite get there, switching to
   nautlis to perform basic tasks feels clunky.



*Unity Launcher Panel*


   - I suggest removing rubbish bin icon from the launcher, or at very least
   give the user to option to. I rarely use it (usually once every 6 months
   when I remember to empty it to free some space).


   - I dont think any of the 3 icons at the bottom (Files & Folders,
   Application & Rubbish bin) are essential. It would be nice
   to consolidate their functionality in to the single unity-shell.


   - I think separators in the unity launcher would be a good idea. For
   example users could choose their favourite apps to sit at the top/bottom
   (where they don't scroll) so they could quickly access them,
alternatively open
   applications could always sit at the top.


*
Navigating windows, applications & workspaces*


   - I often like to check up on a window, if I'm downloading something etc.
   In the past I'd click the applications window icon on the panel, see that
   window, then click again to minimize and I'm back to where I was at the
   start. There doesn't seem to be a solution for this in unity at the moment.
   So many times I've clicked on a window, decided no action required, clicked
   again expecting to go back but instead the single window goes in to unity's
   window select mode. Could the second click not realise i've not interacted
   with the window and take me back to where I was? It's a pain having to click
   the icon you want to check up on, then find the icon you where working on
   and click that one.


   - In the launcher panel, when hovering over application icons that are
   open, under the title could it display mini thumbnails or the open windows?
   Clicking on the thumbnail could then take you to that window. I think this
   would be an intuitive way to quickly navigate on unity.


   - Workspace switching - I'm a web developer and tend to use my 4
   workspaces in the same layout every day, top left is always browsing, top
   right developing, bottom left databasing, bottom right for monitoring
   servers. I use the workspace switching shortcuts all the time (crl+alt+arrow
   and crl+alt+shift+arrow to take current window with me). I used to love the
   gnome compiz workspace switcher animations, sliding from workspace to
   workspace felt very natural. On unity it instantly switches workspace which
   isn't as nice a user experience, can I have my sliding animations back? :)


   - Double clicking on the window title usually maximises and then restores
   a window. This works on unity unless the window is maximised and then it
   doesn't do anything. When you double click on the file menu bar to the right
   of the options could it restore a window? It would be more consistent this
   way.


*Miscellaneous*


   - ALT+TAB seems quite dated now in unity. Not the idea - just the way it
   works. I suggest making it display thumbnails of all the windows (same
   effect as when you click an application icon in the launcher panel when
   there are multiple windows), continuing to alt+tab or using the arrow keys
   you could select the window you want?


   - Window titles seem to have gone - I didn't really mind this until I
   came to a situation where I had two openoffice spreadsheets open and
   couldn't see which one was saved and which wasn't. Are they gone for good?!


   - The icons at the top right (battery indicator, wifi, sound etc) are
   very fiddly to use. I've watched someone attempt to turn the volume down on
   my laptop failing multiple times as when they move their mouse to grab the
   range-slider it moves them on to the chat/gwibber or date drop-down. It
   really should be a little more forgiving!



As I said at the start I really like unity and look forward to seeing it
progress, i find it a lot more usable than gnome-shell. I'm using it
exclusively on my netbook/laptop while I'm travelling and look forward to
trying it on my desktop and in a work environment when I finish my travels.

Keep up the good work!
- Jimmy