[ubuntu-art] Netbook Launcher Ideas

[Andrew Wood]

I love that mockup.

On Thu, 2009-04-16 at 12:03 +1000, Michael Ralston wrote:
> I posted a page to the artwork wiki about a month ago about some ideas
> I had for netbook launcher. Thorsten since deleted it while he was
> cleaning up the wiki, but never mind. I'll repost the text of the page
> here for those who haven't seen it.
> 
> Explanation
> ==========
> I'm currently studying a course in User Interface Design at Newcastle
> University. I am required to design, implement and evaluate a user
> interface. I also currently use Ubuntu Netbook Remix, and Netbook
> Launcher on my desktop. I would like to contribute to the evolution of
> Netbook Launcher via my User Interface Design course.
> 
> The text below is from the project proposal for my user interface
> course, and some of it is redundant to somebody that already has an
> understanding of how Netbook Launcher works. The design is also
> influenced by Mayanna / Gimmie and Long_Term_Vision.
> 
> Problem
> =======
> The user interface of most major operating systems displays the icons
> and names of the applications installed on the computer. This requires
> that the user learn the purpose of each application so that they may
> perform the tasks they require. A more natural approach would be to
> choose from a list of tasks, which then opens the relevant
> application. For example the task of writing a letter could open the
> word processor with a letter template.
> 
> Most major operating systems allow users to store their documents,
> images, music and other files in a directory structure. Users may
> store everything in the one directory, or use a hierarchy, but either
> way it eventually becomes cumbersome to find and open the file a user
> needs. The application launcher should provide a more convenient way
> of accessing user's documents.
> 
> User activities are increasingly more web oriented. The process of
> opening a web browser, and then navigating to the required web page is
> slow and inefficient. Many websites can now be considered applications
> themselves and deserve this acknowledgement as a task in the
> application launcher. People are also more commonly using their
> computer for communicating with family and friends. An application
> launcher should provide a facility for initiating communications with
> a users contacts, whether they be in Gmail, Windows Messenger or
> Facebook for example.
> 
> Solution
> ========
> The interface will contain tabs for the categories: system, tasks,
> documents, contacts. Each tab will display customized options relevant
> to the category selected, including recently used options. The
> interface will also provide a text entry box for searching for
> applications, tasks, documents and contacts. This box will have
> keyboard focus when the application launcher is visible. After
> entering text into this box, search results will be displayed in the
> main area of the application. This combination will allow the user to
> quickly locate the tasks, documents and contacts that they wish to
> use.
> 
> Attached is an initial mockup, you can also view the progress at:
> http://sites.google.com/a/ralston.id.au/netbook-launcher-ideas/
> 
> 
> -- Michael