[Usability]A Challenge: Describe the GNOME 4.0 interface.

[Gregory Merchan <merchan phys lsu edu>]

Describe the GNOME 4.0 user interface.  Be specific and optimistic.
Don't say such broad things as:
  "It will suck."
  "It will be great."
  "It will be easy to use."
  "It will be intuitive."
  "It will be a pain in the ass."
  "It will automate gegls."
  "It will look just like FooOS."

Describe as many specifics as you have time to.
E.g.,
  The GNOME menu
  Application menus, toolbars, etc.
  Theme
  Help
  Documents and document handling
  Audience
  Panels
  Hardware stuff.

Be optimistic, but try not to suggest something that couldn't be
done in a few years like "transmogrifies gegls into lemurs" or
"Demonstrates that NP=P."  Something that another OS had or has
may be a good candidate; like:
  Data is automatically saved. (Xerox Star, OS/2, PalmOS)
  Provides a universal macro mechanism. (MacOS, Emacs)

Don't worry about other people saying you're on crack.

Don't say someone else is on crack.

Have fun with this.

If you won't have fun with this, then filter out any replies now.

If you are having fun with this, please keep a similar subject line
so those that aren't can easily filter.


Why? We've got a HIG, and that's jolly good. It's stil changing (slowly).
But the HIG will probably always be limited to what application writers
need; it doesn't, and probably shouldn't, give the big picture. But the
big picture is really important and often hard to see from the details.
A definitive big picture document is far off now; hardly anyone is talking
about it. This should start that by getting ideas out in the open. The
GNOME Usability Project was once the GNOME UI Hit Squad and before that
probably something else. There used to be some implicit interface guidelines,
a few style guides, and lots of application UI mockups. Attempts were made
to bring all this together and after time and flame wars the HIG emerged.

It is my hope that replies to this will be like the pre-Hit Squad days -
but without the flamewars. I hope that from there people of like minds
will get together and form detailed comprehensive proposals.

A final note:
  I encourage mockups as appropriate, but please don't attach them.
  Provide a URL instead.


Cheers,
Greg Merchan