Re: [Usability] [Ayatana] The Future of Window Borders, Menu Bars, and More

[Ryan Peters <sloshy45 sbcglobal net>]

 On 08/11/2010 04:14 AM, Allan Caeg wrote:
> I just noticed that Firefox 4.0 beta 2 on Windows also has a menu bar 
> <http://imagebin.org/109099> (activated by alt) and its contents are 
> different from the Firefox button <http://imagebin.org/109100>'s (some 
> stuff are in both menus, though). Apparently, the Firefox button isn't 
> a menu bar replacement.
That's part of the plan. Mozilla said themselves that the Firefox button 
is entirely optional and using Alt (as well as using the configure menu) 
is an option to turn it off. As I mentioned earlier, the Firefox Button 
could possibly be an /option/, but as a default it would be horribly 
inconsistent. This would be so people that like the option can use it, 
while still keeping the interface consistent by default.
> You might also be interested in a fresh mockup of the Firefox button ( 
> http://people.mozilla.com/~faaborg/files/firefox4Mockups/firefoxButtonTwoPanes.png 
> <http://people.mozilla.com/%7Efaaborg/files/firefox4Mockups/firefoxButtonTwoPanes.png> ). 
Thanks very much! I find it very... shiny, but it seems to be very 
cluttered and slightly inconsistent. I could get used to it after a 
while, surely, but grouping items by whether or not they open in a new 
tab doesn't exactly help much in my opinion.
> Right now, I can't think of any recommendation to accommodate these. 
> Heeelp. LOL
>
> On Tue, Aug 10, 2010 at 7:18 AM, Allan Caeg <allancaeg gmail com 
> <mailto:allancaeg gmail com>> wrote:
>
>     Not showing the branding while the app is running may reduce
>     cognitive load, just like what MPT said. However, there are issues
>     with this.
>
>     *Apps that are supposed to do the same things have differences
>     that many people know or need to know.*
>     Whenever I'm browsing, I have to know that it's Firefox, because
>     Chrome works differently. Some keystrokes won't work on the other
>     app, some plugins aren't present, etc.
>
>     *When more than one app of the same kind is running, they would be
>     tagged the same way*
>     There are cases when we open more than one web browser or music
>     player. For example, if I want to use two different accounts on
>     one social networking site, I would run two browsers. Not being
>     able to identify easily which app is which would be confusing in
>     this case.
>
>     *Upstream vendors may want to keep their branding *
>     Some of them take their marketing so seriously that they won't
>     even consider this. This may damage our relationship with them,
>     and may cause them to brand their products in places that will be
>     less fit.
>
>     *This could make app launching more complicated*
>     When I launch Firefox, I would need to look for the Web Browser,
>     Internet Browser, or whatever window. That is confusing. It's even
>     more complicated for other apps like Sudoko. What should I expect
>     Sudoku to be named after launching it with whatever launcher
>     (GNOME Main Menu, GNOME Shell, etc.)
>
>     Regards,
>     Allan
>     http://google.com/profiles/AllanCaeg
>     +63 927 982 0592
>
>     On Aug 10, 2010 2:05 AM, "Martin Owens" <doctormo gmail com
>     <mailto:doctormo gmail com>> wrote:
>     > Ryan,
>     >
>     > On Mon, 2010-08-09 at 11:22 -0500, Ryan Peters wrote:
>     >> While browsers might not be focused on branding, that branding is
>     >> still
>     >> there. My point, however, isn't the branding, but the fact that
>     there
>     >> is
>     >> a brand. If we treated every web browser as "web browser" or every
>     >> email
>     >> client as "email client", how would people tell the difference
>     >> between
>     >> them? Branding, with different icons and application names, helps
>     >> this
>     >> issue, and there's a healthy level of branding exposure we need to
>     >> find.
>     >> If the window borders didn't have the application title, the
>     >> Application
>     >> Menu, with the icon as well as the name (so people can more easily
>     >> recognize the name), fixes this problem because you can tell what
>     >> application you have open no matter what window is focused, its
>     >> contents, or what the window title is.
>     >
>     > the branding falls back down to the operating system. It's Ubuntu's
>     > access to facebook etc. not Chrome or Firefox.
>     >
>     > Martin.
>     >
>     >
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>
> --
> Regards,
> Allan
> http://www.google.com/profiles/AllanCaeg#about 
> <http://www.google.com/profiles/allancaeg#about>
> +63 918 948 2520