[ubuntu-art] Impression Alpha 5

[Joseph]

On Sun, Mar 1, 2009 at 9:44 PM, John Baer <baerjj at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sun, 2009-03-01 at 06:54 +0000, Jonathan Blackhall wrote:
>
> > Pardon my ignorance, but I don't quite "get" the circles.  What do
> > they tell
> > me about their purpose?  If I didn't already know what the 3 buttons
> > at the
> > top right of the screen did, I wouldn't know what these buttons do.
> > Isn't
> > the purpose of the buttons to be at least loosely descriptive of what
> > the
> > user can expect when they press them?  I'm also not familiar with OS
> > X, so I
> > have the same trouble with their red, yellow and green.
> >
> > I'm not normally a fan of the "Ubuntu should not try to be like OS X"
> > argument, but I think in this case it's relevant.  Why are you trying
> > to
> > mimic what I'd consider to be a poor design choice?
>
> Jonathan,
>
> Thank you for the question. The desire to use circles for frame control
> widgets is not from OSX. The symbolism comes from the Ubuntu logo. As
> the Impression theme design is based on Ubuntu, IMO it makes sense.
>
> As the widgets are small it is difficult to craft icons which display
> detail. However, if you hover your mouse over the widget a description
> is display which should novice users.
>
> John
>
>
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>

Hi, I'd like to chime in here. I understand both sides of the "don't be like
like OSX" argument and say that I beleive that we should at least to some
extent attempt to differentiate ourselves from OSX and other OS'es as well,
to create a unique branding, rather than come off as "copycats". Although,
if we are able to take the 3 circle theme and "make it ours" then we are
just as well off. My only question is whether we will be able to pull that
off or whether people will always associate the 3 circles with OSX, rather
than Ubuntu.

As far as usability goes, I beleive that the colors themselves convey the
use. Which unfortunately means that it will not be very accessible to color
blind people. For Macintosh, who's market is mainly artists, this is not a
huge problem. But for Ubuntu, who prides itself on "accessibility to all",
this could pose a significant issue. I'm not sure that "hovering to find the
use" is a very convenient idea. Since color blind folks may not remember it
anyways if they can't tell the diffrenece between yellow and orange.

Just my 2¢
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