[ubuntu-art] Quick user switching panel applet. OT?

[Andrew Laignel]

I totally agree with this.

Only functions that are used on an extremely regular basis should have 
an icon on the desktop.  I do like the way Ubuntu has a 'places' menu 
along with 'applications' as if your going to do something then it's 
either going to involve a) opening a file or b) running a program 
though, but too many icons just leads to clutter and creates confusion.

I'd go as far as to say that I seriously doubt more than 80% of the 
general population, if exposed to Ubuntu, would ever use the button.  It 
really shouldn't be there as it doesn't deserve the prominence.  I also 
think the addition of the power off button on the main bar is also silly 
for the same reasons - your only ever going to use it max once per session.

I think the power button position is a response to the anti-MS trolling 
of 'You have to click Start to shut down, lol' which is a ridiculous 
complaint.  From a usability point of view calling the button 'Start' 
and making it an entirely different colour draws the attention of the 
users to it.  Metaphorically it means 'Start doing things here'.

Real attention I think should be paid to the Gnome UI layout.  As far as 
I know it is exactly the same as upstream Gnome and I have seen no 
significant changes or improvements since Warty.  There are many ways it 
can be improved upon to streamline workflow, save space and improve 
usability.  Since Ubuntu is 'Linux for human beings' I believe this 
should be given a top priority as user experience is key to retaining 
your userbase.

As an example from Windows XP, the 'new style' Start box has on the left 
hand side a list of your most commonly used applications.  I've set it 
to display 12 at once and you can pin items to it permanently.  As a 
result if you use an app more than a couple of times in future is never 
more than two clicks away with no need to scan a list for it.

Gnome at the moment still has functionality akin to Windows 98 and I 
feel virtually all the effort is on either dealing with bugs or adding 
new software with seemingly virtually no focus from the Ubuntu camp at 
improving Gnome significantly.

I am working on a few potential UI improvement mockups but I am rather 
busy these days.  I believe that the system GUI is one of the most 
important aspects of an OS, and if given sufficient love it would help 
pull Linux into the mainstream.  Users care about looks and usability 
far more than stability and freedom.

Although this is Ubuntu Artwork, I do think Usability should be given a 
top priority, or even it's own list (it deserves it!).

Sumit Chandra Agarwal wrote:
> I'm not sure if this is quite on-topic for the art list, but it has to 
> do with visual presentation so I thought I'd try here first:
>
> As it is the top panel in Ubuntu is as cluttered or more cluttered than 
> Windows or Mac desktops, with the addition of another panel at the 
> bottom. One item that is significant taking up a lot of space on the 
> upper panel is the fast user switching applet, which manifests itself as 
> text showing the current user name.
>
> This is a great feature. However, I would *guess* that for greater than 
> 50% of Ubuntu users this is unnecessary as they are using the machine as 
> a *personal* computer and as such they are the only user registered on 
> the system. This makes the applet pointless and it only adds to clutter 
> and eating away at space.
>
> Could Ubuntu be configured to intelligently only add the applet if there 
> is more than one user registered to the system?
>
> Sorry if this is off-topic,
> -Sumit
>
>   


-- 
Andrew Laignel
Dot Cafe Limited

Web Development & Graphic Design
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