Re: Minimize Button in GNOME Shell

[Rovanion Luckey <rovanion luckey gmail com>]

Hi Mark Curtis.

I'm no Gnome developer and have no affiliation with the project other than that I on occasion submit bug-reports or translations and that I'm interested in design.
 

 

> Keeping the same look of the button but with a completely different action is confusing to first time users.

The minimize button does not do a completely different action in the Gnome-Shell compared to other environments. It does what it's always done, make the window go away. Even though the window in it's minimized state is handled differently than in other environments and that the minimization animation is different than in other environments, the button is pushed for the same reason as in any other environment. As of such it would simply be confusing for the user to change the icon.


Similarities can be drawn between minimizing and saving a document in your favorite Office suit. The icon that represents saving has for a very long time been that of a floppy. Even though we do no longer save to floppy-disks but rather to harddrives or a web server, the icon has stayed the same because it represents saving. The same thing goes for minimizing. Even though in Gnome-Shell windows aren't minimized to a taskbar but rather to the activities overview, they are still minimized and the small taskbar in the icon represents that in the mind of the user.


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