Re: [Usability] Cross-Desktop UI Pattern Library



On 13 Oct 2010, at 00:21, Kirk Bridger wrote:

> The more I've looked at this issue the less I think that simply creating YAPL (yet another pattern library) is the solution.  Gnome has few unique patterns - or am I wrong there?  

Well, 'unique' patterns isn't necessarily the goal... there isn't much in the HIG that's unique to GNOME either. It's more of a place to document which of the possible ways of doing things we've chosen to embrace.

> That might be a good discussion point actually.  And then involve KDE/XFCE/etc.  Are there really unique patterns or simply visual implementations of patterns?

We've always been open to the idea of working with KDE and others.

> It might also be interesting to know more about the decision behind changing the format of the HIG to a pattern library - was that documented/linked anywhere?  Forgive me if I missed the reference.

Really just that the HIG is a big, outdated, hard-to-maintain, monolithic document. It's also a document written in a time when fewer developers were familiar with other guidelines documents, and (frankly) knew or cared less about user experience over features.

So, we wanted a way to distil into something that captures the essence of GNOME 3.x and its applications, but which is more maintainable and easier to contribute to.  A pattern library seems to fit that bill (likely in conjunction with some short, more conventional guidelines), but if there are better options, then now is the time to change tack before we get too far :)

> You say you'll be getting to this imminently - can we somehow coordinate a rich discussion?  IRC?  Email?  Wiki?  Time might be my worst enemy right now, but I want to move forward with your momentum.
> 
> Not sure how best to proceed.  Thoughts and suggestions welcome from interested parties!

Just had a quick chat with Allan Day on IRC on how we might move things along... an IRC-with-etherpad discussion seems like it might be a reasonable way to get things moving again and capture the next steps, but I've left it in Allan's hands just now to sort out the logistics :)

Cheeri,
Calum.

-- 
CALUM BENSON, Interaction Designer     Oracle Corporation Ireland Ltd.
mailto:calum benson oracle com         Solaris Desktop Team
http://blogs.sun.com/calum             +353 1 819 9771

Any opinions are personal and not necessarily those of Oracle Corp.



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