Re: [Usability] Future of the menu top bar?]

["Shane M. Coughlan" <shane shaneland co uk>]

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Alan Horkan wrote:
> Okay so we have Novell and Sun in one corner using a more Microsoft style
> layout.  In the other corner we have Ubuntu and others [2] who (mostly)
> accept the current default layout.
> Do we need to reconsider?

Hi Alan

As someone who is comfortable with Windows, and uses Ubuntu, I have to
say that I like the top menu bar.  It's clear, clean and easy-to-use.

However, usability testing counts for more than opinions.  If real
people in real situations are having trouble, the menu needs to be
seriously examined.

Semiotics would suggest that the placement of the menu at the top of the
screen is not fitting psychologically.  The 'top' is generally
understood to be ideological in Western cultures, with the left area
being given to known information, the right to new information, and the
bottom to data with less priority or the status of predictability (much
the same as the left).  Perhaps a semiotic examination might lead to
great insights with regards optimal placement zones for interactive objects.

- From the perspective of traditional semiotics it would make sense to
have ideological data like application names and/or documentation names
at the top, but to have predictable active objects on the left of the
screen. The middle and right of the screen should contain new
information like dynamic user data (desktop?).

Shane



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Shane Martin Coughlan
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