Idea: To have oversight of (or at least be made aware of) highly visible projects.

Wed Jun 24 22:40:58 BST 2009

@Matthew Paul Thomas

Thanks for your feedback.

> You are, quite understandably, confusing three different teams

Quite understandably, indeed.  Maybe we need a Redundancy Team ;)

Are you at all suggesting I re-post my message on the Desktop Experience
Team's mailing list?

> The Design team is aware of this, but we haven't had time to get involved
so far.

Are you on the Design Team, and if so, do you feel we should re- post this
discussion on their mailing list?

> Your mockups look like definite improvements over the current layout, well
done.

Thanks.  That's the first really positive feedback I've heard.  Then again,
I think you're only the second person to have actually seen my mockups :)

> I suggest having *one* illustration per slide, and making that
illustration look non-rectangular...

That sounds right to me.  Would you possibly consider taking the next step,
and posting your comments to the slideshow mailing list?

subscribe: https://launchpad.net/~ubiquity-slideshow

and post:https://lists.launchpad.net/ubiquity-slideshow/maillist.html

I'm afraid if we sit back and do nothing .. we'll get the design we have
now.

> Three small rectangular pictures makes it look like a game
show.

'like a game show'  -- I couldn't have said it better myself.

> making the slideshow interactive at all is
probably inappropriate.

I started brainstorming on the ubuntu-doc mailing list:
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-doc/2009-June/013232.html
Back then, I was feeling there could be at least a pause function, so that
the user might have more time to view a particular slide.  Now that I think
about it, perhaps instead of pause, we can just give the option of going
back to the previous slide (for the allotted time interval), in case the
user feels "hey, wait ... I was reading that ... how do I go back?"  I
introduced other ideas in that thread of posts, such as bookmarking slides
for later reference, and having the slideshow included in the finished
installed OS (perhaps in the Examples folder), so that users (and new users
in particular) may again refer to it.

> Like every other team involved with Ubuntu, the Design team has limited
time. So part of our challenge will be to help other Ubuntu contributors
learn design processes and principles to use themselves.

That is quite a challenge.  I can appreciate that your resources are
limited.  I can also appreciate your "teach a man to fish" approach.  I
obviously have some interest in this - and obviously initiative,  to have
not yet given up on this, after having posting to ubuntu-doc, then ayatana,
and now desktop.  Can I, perhaps be a conduit for "help(ing) other Ubuntu
contributors learn the design processes and principles themselves"?  How
might I do so, I wonder.  I've sort of reached a "where do I go from here?"
moment.  I have ideas for improving the design of the slideshow, in addition
to other projects, like the Ubuntu.com website, among others.  Is there a
way I can become involved, and if so, how?  Perhaps the first step might be
to highlight those projects which might need a lesson or two on design
principles?

Dylan McCall and I have been sharing ideas on
https://lists.launchpad.net/ubiquity-slideshow/maillist.html but so far he's
pretty much shot down every idea I've given.  That's why I then turned to
Ayatana, and now to you.  So, I guess I'm asking, where does a guy like me
fit in - if at all?  Can Ubuntu use the interest and energy of a young man
such as myself?  My interest is in seeing people have a positive,
interesting, engaging, and intuitive experience of Ubuntu, from initial
download and install, to maintenance and daily use.  I'd like to connect the
people who are good at knowing how to design the user experience (like
myself, or so I'd like to believe), with those who are actually implementing
those pieces of the system.  Any suggestions of where I should go from here?

On Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 12:56 PM, Matthew Paul Thomas <mpt at canonical.com>wrote:

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>
> Hello H S
>
> H S wrote on 23/06/09 18:26:
> >
> > I posted this to the Ayatana Team list (ayatana at lists.launchpad.net),
> > but they suggested it was better suited to you.  You can see the
> > original at https://lists.launchpad.net/ayatana/msg00395.html
> >
> > "The second task is developing the desktop to improve the user
> > experience, both by improving the usability of our existing desktop
> > and developing innovating new interface concepts." --
> > https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DesktopTeam
> >
> > Shouldn't that mean that the Desktop Experience Team should have some
> > oversight, or at least, be made aware of, certain highly visible
> > projects?
>
> You are, quite understandably, confusing three different teams:
>
> *   the Ubuntu Desktop team
>    <https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-desktop<https://launchpad.net/%7Eubuntu-desktop>
> >
>
> *   the Canonical Desktop Experience Team
>    <https://launchpad.net/~canonical-ux<https://launchpad.net/%7Ecanonical-ux>
> >
>
> *   the Canonical Design Team
>    <https://launchpad.net/~canonical-dx-team<https://launchpad.net/%7Ecanonical-dx-team>
> >.
>
> (Probably the best way to resolve this confusion is to rename the
> Desktop Experience team, but no-one has yet come up with a good name for
> them.;-)
>
> > For example, the slideshow that will show during the Ubiquity install
> > for Karmic
> > (https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+spec/ubiquity-slideshow) will
> > be the first impression that many new users will have of Ubuntu.
> > Shouldn't the Desktop Experience Team at least keep an eye on - and
> > at most, lend some design and communication skills and polish to -
> > this project?
>
> That's more of a job for the Design team. :-)
>
> >                If left to their own devices, I'm afraid the project
> > will only produce a very 'rinky-dink', amateurish outcome that will
> > not leave a good first impression.
>
> That's a reasonable concern; the current design looks rather awkward.
> The Design team is aware of this, but we haven't had time to get
> involved so far.
>
> > I've already tried to lend my design opinions at
> > https://lists.launchpad.net/ubiquity-slideshow/maillist.html, but to
> > little or no avail. :-(
>
> Some quick feedback:
>
> Your mockups look like definite improvements over the current layout,
> well done.
>
> I suggest having *one* illustration per slide, and making that
> illustration look non-rectangular (i.e. have a largely transparent
> background). Three small rectangular pictures makes it look like a game
> show.
>
> Since the slide show flips from slide to slide automatically, and since
> you're *installing an operating system* and likely to be concerned about
> disrupting that process, making the slideshow interactive at all is
> probably inappropriate.
>
> > I could suggest other projects as well, but I'm curious what people
> > think. Shouldn't The Desktop Experience Team have some level of
> > participation in highly visible (to the end-user) projects, so that
> > good, consistent, well-designed 'look and feel' is persistent
> > throughout the Ubuntu experience?
>
> Like every other team involved with Ubuntu, the Design team has limited
> time. So part of our challenge will be to help other Ubuntu contributors
> learn design processes and principles to use themselves.
>
> Thanks for helping out!
>
> Cheers
> - --
> Matthew Paul Thomas
> http://mpt.net.nz/
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> --
> ubuntu-desktop mailing list
> ubuntu-desktop at lists.ubuntu.com
> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-desktop
>
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