unity-design team mailing list archive

[André Oliva <gandreoliva@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi!

The user Sashin created a blueprint for Unity:
https://blueprints.launchpad.net/unity-shell/+spec/better-ubuntu-button-bfb.
Had someone checked it out?

I'm transcribing here the description:

Recently (although possibly not final) in Ubuntu development the top left
Ubuntu button(BFB) to invoke the dash has been replaced by a shortcut-esque
icon on the launcher. This was due to usability testing by Canonical that
found that the button was not easily discoverable and that users clicked the
home button mistaking it for the dash. Although the current solution
resolves said issue, it also creates two problems:
-Lack of visual difference between BFB and shortcuts: Users may mistake the
button as "just another app"
-longer time to invoke dash (as it is no longer in the top left corner
rather arbitary aiming is required to position the cursor slightly below the
panel)

I propose a differently styled buttonto the launcher icons that takes up the
area of both the launcher and the panel, making it;
visually distinct, accessible via corner of the screen and easily
discoverable. This can be illustrated in the following mockup (albeit poorly
drawn).


I have done a mockup of this blueprint:

http://sites.google.com/site/gandreoliva/hybridbutton

Personally, I like the idea. I have seen that Ubuntu users, when a window is
maximized, look for some place they can click in order to reveal the
launcher or dash. That place is, of course, the top left button. I think
that users are going to get more confused when a window is maximized where
is the "main menu" (dash). A panel that simply dissapears is not intuitive.
I also understand that when the launcher is shown, users see the "home
button" as the "principal button". But, with this idea, the two problems are
solved. A big Ubuntu button when the launcher is shown, and a little Ubuntu
button in the panel when the launcher is hidden. I think it's simpler, it's
more intuitive.


André Oliva.