unity-design team mailing list archive

["Stefanos A." <stapostol@xxxxxxxxx>]

2011/9/6 Eylem Koca <eylemkoca@xxxxxxxxx>

> Thank you for your comments! I too hope the design team will consider
> this for 12.04, even if it's not accepted as it is...
>
> @Stefanos
> I know what you're saying about the maximized-window control buttons,
> and the problem is partly because they're hidden when cursor is not on
> top panel.


No, not really. Hiding the window controls along with the menu makes sense
(although I don't really agree with hiding anything at all, but that's
another discussion entirely).


> That is
> why in my proposal, I bring the buttons back. This way, they should be
> just as easy to hit as they are for un-maximized windows.
>

My point was that closing maximized windows should be easier than
unmaximized windows (why? Because we can, given the current design).

I know you can invoke the Dash with the Super (Meta) key but you can
> close a window with Alt-F4 as well :) My intention is not to throw
> back a key combination to you. The main reason I keep coming back with
> design ideas like this is because the screen corner is extremely
> important and from a design perspective, you have to match that
> strategic location with an equally important functionality. Is Unity,
> and thus Ubuntu, about "closing maximized windows". I hope not. It
> should be about "starting applications, opening up to the rest of the
> world, etc. etc."


Just to throw more oil into the fire, Windows (XP, Vista, 7) manage to make
both the launcher ('start menu'), window controls *and* menu for maximized
windows and the "show desktop" action equally usable, by distributing each
action to a different corner of the screen. Unity has a similar core idea
but uses a slightly different arrengement:

- in Natty, it distributed the system menu, the BFB and the trash icon to
the corners.
- in Oneiric, it distributes the system menu, the window controls and the
trash icon to the corners.

Note that (unlike windows) we still have an unused corner (bottom right on
the default desktop).

Personally, I believe that the trash icon is given undue attention in this
design. It offers three-fold functionality: drag&drop to delete items,
drag&drop to eject usb sticks, right click to empty trash. The first two can
be performed in simpler ways (e.g. right click the item in question and
select 'delete' or 'eject'). The latter requires the trash icon but does not
really require a whole hot corner to perform (how often do you empty trash,
compared to launching applications or closing windows)?

What could be done? Two suggestions:
1. relegate the trash icon to a regular icon in the launcher, or
2. show the trash icon on demand at the bottom-right corner. In other words,
when the user drags a deletable/ejectable item, the trash icons appears
automatically as a drop target. (I like this idea, since it's symmetric with
the current behavior of the launcher).

In both cases, the bottom-left corner can be reused for more important
functionality, such as a BFB or a 'show desktop' icon.

Of course, moving the BFB to the bottom-left corner would bring up questions
regarding the layout of the launcher (i.e. all items on top and the BFB at
the bottom?) This is something that merits discussion.