First and last impressions of Unity were that it was quite user-friendly, and pleasing in its design and ease of learning. The majority of participants left the session with very positive feelings and were looking forward to Unity’s release so they could download it. In short, participants in this testing session were considerably more positive about Unity than participants who tested the previous version in October.
This improvement, no doubt, is due to the significant changes we have made since the last testing, often in response to problems uncovered during that testing. Many of the serious issues discovered then have been resolved. Most significant, as it stands now, there are no longer any “show-stoppers”.
However, there are still a few interactions that were at odds with the product’s general ease of use.
Some important points to keep in mind
First, it appears that those of our participants who were Mac users seemed to have had more facility with the Unity interface than Windows users, especially those using anything previous to Windows 7. Generally, Windows users tended to rely on right click, and they sought menus from which they could find and launch applications as well as move and delete. They did not immediately take advantage of Unity’s visual assets. Accordingly, Windows users will need to be encouraged to manipulate icons and to develop a more physical relationship with Unity than the more text-heavy relationship they have with Windows.
Second, Unity’s concept of ‘Home’ (Nautilus file manager) is different for that of our users, even Mac users, and they did not immediately understand it. They had a tendency to go to the ‘Home’ icon, not only to find information about their computer, but for any programme or application they were looking for. Essentially, many navigated from one application to another using ‘Home’. For example, almost every participant first looked into ‘Home’ to find computer settings and to change their wallpaper.
Third, most participants were not able to figure out how to reveal the Launcher from the upper left corner. They immediately devised work-arounds, like closing windows or moving a window away from the left edge of the screen. They expected to be able to reveal the Launcher by approaching any point along the left side with their pointer. As the Launcher is one of the most important features of Unity, it should be either always visible or at least very easy to bring out.
Fourth, the Dash is hard to discover. The icon is too small and understated compared to the icons in the Launcher. By its size and placement, it is easily associated with the window management buttons. Participants who discovered the Dash found it very useful, but were more inclined to use Files and Applications Lenses at the bottom of the Launcher. This was, I’m convinced, partly due to the fact that there were no data, pictures, music or documents on the computer that they would want to access through the Dash at the time of the testing, whereas the Applications Lens, in early use, is more adapted to general exploration. The Dash needs to be more visible — it needs to be accorded its rightful place as a major feature of the interface.
Notwithstanding these small problems, it is fair to say that this test showed that we have made significant progress since the October testing.
Some Major Issues that Have Been Resolved since October
Visibility of icons at the bottom of the Launcher
During the April testing, participants experienced difficulty seeing the bottom of the Launcher when it was accordioned and then, when the Launcher expanded, it hid the bottom icons. At the time of the testing, it was very difficult to reveal these bottom icons even by scrolling down. Recent updates have resolved this problem by making the Launcher automatically scroll down when users move the pointer down along it. This way, the icons that were previously hidden are effortlessly revealed.
A related issue that has also been resolved is that, during testing, participants wanted to make the Launcher visible by touching any part of the left side border – whereas, in fact, the only way to reveal the Launcher was by reaching with the pointer to the upper left corner. With the updated version, users can now reveal the Launcher from any point on the left side of the screen.
Changing the order of icons in Launcher
During the October testing, when the interaction to move an icon in the Launcher was to select it and bring it outside of the Launcher before giving it a new position, many participants failed to do it. The new interaction supports users’ natural way of moving an icon: participants were able to move icons in the Launcher by selecting them and moving them vertically up and down. It should also be noticed that the feedback provided when users select an icon they intend to move helps them understand that they have initiated an action. Knowing that the icon has effectively been selected afforded them more freedom to move the icon around and to find a way to make it work.
Adding icons to the Launcher
Participants were able, even during the October testing, to drag and drop the icon of an application from the Applications Lens into the Launcher. However, their first attempt, especially for Windows users, was to right click on the icon they intended to move and expect to be offered an option to attach to the Launcher in a drop down menu; and second, to look at the top of the Launcher for a ‘Launcher menu’.
Identifying running applications
Most participants were able to see immediately which applications were running by means of the white arrows beside the icon in the Launcher. However, they were not sure if they had made the right inference. In short, although participants were unsure about the meaning of the white arrows and bars, they were able to figure them out which indicates that this is a feature easy to learn.
Changing the wallpaper
Most participants easily changed the wallpaper by right clicking on the desktop.
Deleting a document
Most participants easily deleted a document.
Detailed Summary of Benchmarking – Comparison of the October and April Test Results
The points above are the highlights of the findings. Let us now examine individually the differences in performance as revealed in the testing of last October and the one just completed in April.
Performance
October report: “The level of performance in this regard significantly impaired the flow of use and the user experience.”
April testing: Unity was quick and responsive.
Outcome: This is fixed.
Multi-tasking: Having many items opened and accessing them
October report: “Thus, while working on a task, participants expected that Unity would provide them with a representation or visibility of what was available to them and how to easily access what they needed at any given point.”
April testing: No problems were observed with overlapping open applications and documents. Participants could easily move individual windows and reveal items placed underneath.
Outcome: This is fixed.
General navigation
October report: “Overall, participants found the navigation to be cumbersome.”
April testing: Participants used Nautilus to find applications and documents as well as system settings. This is not, however, the most efficient way to do this.
The Files and Applications Lenses icons need to be more prominent in the Launcher. However, participants found it easy to go from one document or window to another and to make them all visible to them.
Outcome: In a recent update, the icon ‘Home’ (Nautilus) has been renamed ‘File Manager’ and the icon has been modified to downplay the home relationship. This should help users recognise its role and lead them to look for an alternative place for system settings and other programmes and applications.
Minimising a window
October report: “When participants minimised a document, the document seemed to have disappeared when they expected it to be shown at the bottom of the screen.”
April testing: A few participants still expected to see a trace of their minimised document at the bottom of their screen.
Outcome: Since the usability sessions this interaction has been updated to show the window minimised into its Launcher icon even when the Launcher is hidden. This should help users to locate their minimised documents and windows.
Awareness of running applications
October report: “Participants did not always see the white arrows that indicate a programme is running or documents are opened. Consequently, they were not aware of what was available to them.”
April testing: Almost all our participants were able to tell which applications were running by looking at the white arrows. However, some were not sure at first and needed to ‘try it out’. So they opened and closed windows and applications to check on the behaviour of the icon in the Launcher.
Outcome: The white arrows seem to be working well once they have been discovered. Although they are not obvious, users can figure them out. This is easily learnable.
Displaying documents side by side
October report: “No participant could find a way to resize his/her openoffice documents in such a way that they could be placed side by side while working on both at the same time.”
April testing: Except for one, all participants were able to display two documents side by side. However, as noted above, they were not able to discover the semi-maximised state.
Outcome: The original problem is fixed. In the new design of Unity, participants have a way to display their documents side by side and to work on them simultaneously. The semi-maximised state is not readily discoverable. Unfortunately, users are not yet taking full advantage of what Unity offers.
Overview of computer
October report: “Many participants wished they could have an overview of what resides in various parts of their computer, as is facilitated by Windows’ ‘my computer’.”
April Testing: This is still a problem. Participants in the April sessions were still looking for a place where they could do systems setting and have an overview of their computer.
Outcome: None of the participants discovered the ‘system settings’ option in the top right indicators menu. Users need an icon either in the Launcher or in the indicator area, or a folder in Nautilus.
- Bug #764744 (“Add system setting icon to Launcher”)
Delete a document
October report: “Participants could not delete existing documents from their files and folders. “
April testing: Everyone was able to delete a document that was no longer wanted.
Outcome: This is fixed. One remaining problem is that many participants cannot see the Rubbish Bin at the bottom of the Launcher. They used other ways to delete, like pressing the delete key.
- Bug #764751 (“Launcher – when Launcher contained folded icons, partcipants weren’t able to find the rubbish bin”)
Copy and paste
October report: “Copy and paste from one document to another didn’t always work for participants.”
April testing: Everyone was able to copy and paste from one document to another.
Outcome: This is fixed.
Lack of feedback
October report: “Unity is often slow, and as a result participants tended to be confused about what was going on.”
April testing: Overall, and as noted earlier, the performance of Unity was much better and the system responded more readily to users’ commands. Some issues remain with feedback, however, for example, with the Rubbish Bin. Participants wanted to be alerted, either with sound or a message that their document had been moved to the Bin.
Outcome: Confirmative feedback is necessary whenever users complete an action, like deleting a file.
- Bug #750311 (“Launcher – When a item is deleted by dragging to Trash, the trash should pulse once before the Launcher disappears”)
Nautilus search
October report: “When searching, participants didn’t know what the field and scope were that were covered by the search engine they were using.”
April testing: Many participants searched for applications successfully. However, there are still problems with search. Participants made inappropriate searches, for instance in Nautilus, searching for Sudoku (search that pertained to Applications Lens) and they did not get the results they expected.
Outcome: This is partially fixed. Some issues with search are related to participants’ understanding of the structure of Unity. There should be some guidance hinting at the limitation of the search and thus, the kind of results that can be expected from the various search boxes in the various parts of Unity.
Adding an icon to Launcher
October report: “Many participants were not able to add a short-cut of an application to the Launcher.”
April testing: Most participants were able, this time, to add an icon to the Launcher. Windows users, however, had more difficulties than the others did; they tended to look for options in various menus or right clicking on the icon.
Outcome: This is partially fixed. The interaction is quite intuitive but, some users (particularly those using earlier versions of Windows) will require more guidance.
Reordering icons in Launcher
October report: “Most participants failed to reorganise the order of icons in the Launcher.“
April testing: A few participants experienced some difficulty reordering icons in the Launcher because they did not have sufficient feedback to understand when the icon had actually been selected so that they could proceed vertically. Consequently, they tried to move the icon too quickly after clicking on it and the icon did not respond.
Outcome: This has been fixed in the latest update by providing feedback on selection – the interaction shows the icon as if it was detached from the Launcher – and by allowing users to move the icons vertically within the Launcher.
Finding the Dash
October report: “The majority of participants who found the Dash found it by accident. They were not sure what it was, and didn’t know how they had gotten there if they accidentally had.”
April testing: Participants still cannot readily find the Dash.
Outcome: The Dash needs to be made more visible and promoted as a major feature of Unity, on a par at least with the icons of the Launcher.
- Bug #764771 (“The BFB is visually lost and his position does not communicate its importance”)
Ubuntu Software Centre
The same features of the Software Centre were not tested this time because everyone agrees on its need for redesign and its existing usability problems. Nevertheless, some issues emerged in the course of testing other interactions.
April testing: The Software Centre is still not recognized and, during testing, was mistaken for ‘systems control’.
Outcome: The Software Centre needs to have a different look and feel and general presentation. Needs redesign.
Changing the wallpaper
October report: “Many participants did not succeed in changing their wallpaper because the default screen of appearance was open in full screen by default.”
April testing: Almost all participants were able to change the wallpaper by right clicking on the desktop. Furthermore, one participant who was able to find ‘appearance’ had no problem changing the wallpaper because now, the screen opens in a way to provide visibility of the background. The October usability problem was thus, fixed. However, a new problem emerged.
In the April test, the target feature was, in fact, the ease of use of the Applications Lens by means of changing the wallpaper. Most participants were not able to change the wallpaper by finding ‘Appearance’ in the Applications Lens. They were looking for ‘system settings’ to do that operation.
Outcome: The initial problem with the appearance screen covering up the immediate change of wallpaper and so, hiding the change from users, has been resolved. Now, by default, the appearance screen does not open full screen. In the April test, however, users could not find their ’system settings’, where they expected to make these changes. Furthermore, many participants did not think of system settings as an application and, thus, were not confident to find it in the Applications Lens. Unity needs to provide obvious access to ‘system setting’ and make a distinction in the Application Lens between applications and other programmes.
Visibility of Files and Folders and Applications Lenses and Rubbish Bin
October report: “Participants thought that the grey icons at the bottom of the Launcher were inactive.”
April testing: These icons still have issues of visibility, especially when they are folded at the bottom. For example, most participants did not find the Rubbish Bin. Another usability problem that arose from interacting with the Launcher is that some participants found it difficult to interact with the bottom part of the Launcher. They found that it was ‘a long way to go’ to the Rubbish Bin or the Lenses when the Launcher was populated with many icons.
Outcome: These icons still need more visibility. Changing the colour, and perhaps even changing their position in the Launcher, might help.
- Bug #764751 (“Launcher – when Launcher contained folded icons, partcipants weren’t able to find the rubbish bin”)
Some Usability Issues that Have Arisen from Some of Our New Design
Top Menu Bar
The top menu bar is actually a new design. There was some confusion about the role of the top menu bar: Participants wondered if it pertained to ‘the computer’ or to the application they had open at the time. When participants had many windows opened, they did not understand that the bar corresponded to the selected window.
System Settings
During testing, I encouraged participants to change their wallpaper in another way than by right clicking on the desktop to see if they could find ‘appearance’ in the Applications Lens. Finding system settings programmes in the Applications Lens is not intuitive. Most participants did not succeed in changing the wallpaper by going into the Applications Lens. They were looking for a ‘system settings’ icon in the Launcher or somewhere in the ‘Home’ at the top of the Launcher. Those who went into the Applications Lens, did not expect to see ‘system settings’ in that area because they did not think of system settings as applications and accordingly they did not explore. No one discovered the ‘system settings’ option in the drop down menu under the ‘turn off’ icon in the indicators menu bar.
Notification of message
This is also a new feature since the October testing. The majority of participants did not see the notification that they had received a message. The change in colour of the icon was not noticed. However, some noticed the change in the icon in the Launcher, in this case the Xchat, and they induced, by looking at the number that appeared on the icon, that they had received a message. However, when the Launcher is invisible, participants were not aware that they had a message.
This said, a couple of participants saw the notification and the change in colour of the envelop in the notification area. They had a strong positive impression of the feature. It seems that in this case, it might be a question of making the change in the notification area more prominent.
Semi-maximised state
Again, semi-maximised state is another new feature. Semi-maximised state is not readily discoverable. Only one participant discovered it. This participant was a Windows 7 user and said that there is the same feature in Windows 7. Two other participants interpreted the blue preview shadow as signalling that they were about to make a mistake or to do something not allowed by the system. The preview shadow was interpreted as a warning. Users need both guidance and reassurance here.
We are doing better with the user’s experience and our users are closer to adoption
Overall, participants left with a strong positive impression of Unity after having tried it for 60 minutes. Some of their closing comments:
“I like the layout and the screen (…) I want to customise it myself quite easily. It would be good to have a tutorial. (…) I like minimise and the fact that you can move things around. I like the casual font, aesthetically, it looks nice and it is easy to use. Nothing is really difficult. The important things are there and easy to use. It is nice.” [P1]
“The reason it was annoying today is because it is a new package. I like the design and layout. Design is important to me. It is quite clear. (…) “I would like more time to play around with it. It’s Ubuntu, I haven’t used it. This is new, the way I learn is by playing with it. (..) It’s good to use something that is a bit more independent. I like the idea that we can do things rather than being locked down in something more siloed like Windows or Mac. I would like to get it.” [P2]
“I prefer this set up to the start menu. I like the icons. We are a generation to see things with icons. I think there is a lot of significant gesture, like saving documents and I would not have any problem doing these activities. I really like the dragging format. I like to be able to order what I want. I think it is much easier than Windows. With Windows you have to go down menus. (…) I don’t think it’s complicated but it would take some time [to get use to it]. I’ve been working it out in an hour. It’s very user friendly. Even within the hour, I’ve learned a lot about how to do different things.” [P3]
“I really quite like it. I think it’s intuitive with the exception of the favourites, making an application a favourite. I would not be baffled to use it without a manual. I like the look of the desktop. It is modern. It looks like a Mac more than Windows. It’s quick.” [P5]
[About the Software Centre] “I didn’t anticipate to have access that easily to new apps. Also, I like the rating on the side. It’s quite helpful, I can see what I can trust. That’s quite nice.” [P5]
“It’s OK. Quite intuitive but I was going from what I know from Windows. I use the right click a lot, it’s nice to have it on the side. Generally this looks pretty good. It’s a bit more intuitive, for me, though, the right click is vital. It always brings up a good menu.” [P9]
“I think it’s very pretty, very pleasing as it were.” [P11]
“It’s quick and responsive. It’s very responsive, different from what I use, it would take a day or two to get acquainted. I wouldn’t be discouraged. I would rather spend time than pay money.” [P12]
In the summary of their experience post usability testing, participants also highlighted their main difficulties. It is meaningful that, at the end of the session, the following first came to mind:
“I don’t like the dragging in Launcher up and down. I mean I didn’t realise at first this is what I needed to do. It’s difficult to get to the Bin. It’s not easy to get to the top from the Bin, it is hard to drag things down a long way. I don’t like the dropping down.” [P1]
“My frustrations: I would like to know how to change the settings, I expect a button to change wallpaper clicking on a button right at the top. (…) The menu at the top bugged me.” [P2]
“I didn’t like when I have things minimised. There are many things I can’t do without maximising the screen.” [P3]
“It is hard to delete a file in this way. (…) You don’t find the menu bar and you don’t know what’s open.” [P4]
“I don’t know how to make the Launcher visible [when a window is opened]. I’m struggling a bit. This window [Dash] has a tendency to disappear.” [P5]
“I hated the Files and Folders, I didn’t know what it would do when I click on it, if it will open or just let me select it. I wasn’t able to select a document.” [P8]
[About the wallpaper] “I couldn’t find it. I wouldn’t have thought of it as an application for some reason.” [P10]
“I suppose my main thing is what I expected to have in terms of applications and control panel. I couldn’t find it. If I could have found this at the beginning life would have been a lot simple. I feel like I feel with Apple, I feel a bit stupid because I can’t do the things I normally do with my PC. I like things in words a lot, I like the drop down menu. This is interesting because this is generally shown with an icon.” [P11]
“I’m frustrated that I can’t find something like ‘my computer’. I want to find information about ‘my computer’ and what the hardware is, the driver versions, and I want to know if there are updates on Explorer. Here you need to go into ‘control panel’ to see if there are any updates. I still can’t figure it out.” [P12]
You can also download a PDF of the full report by clicking on this link.
What does “Semi-maximised state” mean?
Why make the users struggle when they don’t have to?
why not just create something like this
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4098/4907883103_f8e7b2c32e_o.jpg
microsoft was smart enoough to do it when they changed the interface from 3.1 to 95
Great work!
Awensom work people. I think that even if there is no time for changes in Natty, I am confident that all usability “bugs” will be fixed by 11.10. Until then don’t stop this tests !
Thank you for doing this. Please keep up doing usability studies.
I’m not particularly fond of the whole emphasis on symbols, pictograms,…
It really gives you the impression that you’re playing with toy blocks. Dragging items here and there, ogling every shiny phenomenon.
The whole touchy-feely approuch works well with cellphones and the like, because it’s the best way to deal with size constraints. This is however not an issue on a desktop computer. There are better ways out there. Nevertheless, I’m certain Unity will be an exciting, fresh breath of air. I’m just wondering how long it will stick.
It certainly does look rather slick, altough it could still be more minimal. Constraining aspects of the design is good for enforcing best practices and getting a bit of an identity, but it’s a shame that there’s no way for experienced users to break it.
As one of the first closing comments mentioned it would indeed be advisable to include a tiny tutorial. I suspect most Linux users will just end up relying on the terminal though. Good luck building the new identity, just try to steer it away as far as feasibly possible from cellphone design. Oh and some participant stated “We are a generation to see things with icons.” I suspect he spoke as a proxy for the generation I belong to, and allow me to confirm that I fully reject his statement.
Anyway, Best of luck, I’m eagerly awaiting the 28th.
Can I add a thought about Unity usability?
Chirality has thus far not been an issue with most GUIs, because they have been accessed via mouse. The crucial part of that is the handedness of the user and the GUI was not a great issue, as the screen could be crossed with a small movement of the mouse.
However, I have been testing Unity using a relatively large touch screen, and suspect I have found a significant chiral issue.
I am right handed. So most of the touch screen inputs I make are with my right hand. However, with Unity, I find most of the most often used controls, are now placed either on the far left of the screen, and a massive proportion of controls used are in the left hand 50 percentile of the screen. This has two main effects.
1. I have to make more physical effort to get at the controls, which is physically uncomfortable.
2. The GUI opposes my natural chirality. (I have pondered whether this was part of the cause for so much unexpected opposition to the MIN/MAX/CLOSE window controls being moved to the left of app windows. Depending on the users individual brain plasticity, I think this could be a strong factor).
May I propose a possible initial step to resolution? If we were to draw an imaginary line bisecting the left and right hand sides of the screen, could an option be written in giving the user the option to place the significant controls on the opposite side of the screen to where they are at the moment, and do some testing in the next cycle to see if this is significant?
If I haven’t made my point clear, I am quite happy to make a video that could explain it better. And if there’s any other way I could assist in researching this, I’d also be happy to give some time to it.
Keep up the good work guys. Nothing worth doing is ever easy!
Perhaps for 11.10 it would be a good idea provide a quick tour on first use, pointing out what most of the major elements to the UI do. GMail’s feature tour on first use is pretty good.
I think currently, whilst a lot of good work it done on providing help, only experienced users know it is there so few people use it.
well, i want to say my words on what i consider the weakest point in Natty. THE DASH !!!
once u fire up the dash in natty u will see 2 rows of icons.
the first is a set of super ugly and horrible monochrome icons ( or lenses) that are also very anonymous. at a glance u can not say what they represent without having to read beneath. and when the mouse hovers over them they become white and completely indistinguishable.
but what i consider a nonsense, useless, meaningless and a huge waste of precious space is the second row with the preferred applications (FF, mail, shotwell, banshee). WHAT? isn’t there what unity was created for in first place? to pin your favorite applications in it and forget about them? these applications are already pinned in my unity dock so why would i need them any more? if u make a poll in the unity users u will see that these icons were clicked only once in their lives so what are they standing for there? and don’t u think that system settings deserves a more prominent place in the dash instead of these favorite applications (which by the way u can not change at all. they have been chosen there by someone for u and u can not do anything about it) instead of being hidden in a very unintuitive place?
i was very disappointed when i saw the new dash because i always thought that we had the winning horse already at home… THE UNE 10.10 DASH !!!! in all the reviews about UNE 10.10 there were a lot of critics about many aspects of that os but never about the new dash which everyone (me included) simply loved. beautiful identifiable icons, fantastic categorization and layout, big searching bar and a wonderfully placed and always visible filter for the applications. i thought and hoped that that dash was going to be the base for the new one and be improved, so i was disappointed when i so the opposite. it was thrown in the garbage unfortunately not for a better one.
i hope u reconsider this decision.
anyways these were my 2 cents about unity and dash.
keep up with the great work.
I agree with this sentiment 100%. A brief tour of the important features for new users should be in every version.
Also, why not use the users’ expectation that the Home button is where to go for everything by linking it to Unity? Make Home the top button and put an icon for the file browser in the Unity screen? Go further and add an “Applications” entry in the Nautilus sidebar.
I don’t understand why Ubuntu still doesn’t support indexed search integration. Why not use Tracker in the default file search? This is a killer feature that follows Unity’s goal of not bothering the user about where files are stored.
It means that a window takes half of the screen which can be achieved by compiz grid feature(like aero snap in win7).
Thanks for the article guys ! That’s very cool to see this kind of transparency and very encouraging to see that Unity is well thought.
A few remarks though :-)
1) Wouldn’t it be relevant to include more Linux users in the study ?
2) It seems (if I understood properly) that the main focus of the study is to figure out if people manage to understand how to perform simple action. But is “efficiency” considered ?
(indeed : 1st example : I’m not sure it’s “efficient” to use the applications lens to discover a new app — the current “applications” menu is just two clicks away, very little mouse movement, very clear categorization //
2nd example : switching windows : without unity, just clikc on the fast bar // with unity : move the mouse to top left corner, mouve mouse over app icon, click, choose the window / application) etc.
3rd example : global menu (more mouse movement, less information on screen at a time…)
3) to sum up my concern : is it that relevant to check if new users can understand how unity works quicky ? Wouldn’t it be more relevant to see if current & new users find it pleasant & efficient in the long run ? Personally, I still have my doubt, but will gladly test it thoroughly.
Keep up the great work guys !
(oops, sorry, my previous post is not totally clear)
I also wanted to add something : getting screen space for the sake of it is not necessarily a good thing. Especially since : most gnome users delete their bottom panel anyway and because, when the dock is visible, much space is occupied as well — also, the fact that the dock appears / disappears is kind of “distractive”.
Also, regarding my point about efficiency, here is another example (there are so many examples of things that look & feel great under Unity but that make me lose time) :
– when mounting a device. If the dock is already full, you first have to make the dock appear, then scroll to the bottom of the dock (I have trouble doing this for some reason). –> this is another example of sth that could be achieve very quickly with very little mouse movement from the current “shortcuts” menu.
Maybe there should be a way to keep device icons / shortcuts always visible at the bottom, dunno.
Well, as you can see, there are many people, like me, who appreciate the work done on Unity, but see many cases in which the workflow is interrupted / less efficient… Which makes me wonder if it’s worth it, in the end, of if something based on GNOME 3 fallback mode wouldn’t have been preferable ?
Most users I convert to Ubuntu love the fact it’s minimalistic and doesn’t get in the way.
Wish I could set my default messenger, music player and email in the top menu bar and then change my status without any unnecessary icon
I find it estrange that there is no mention to the process of minimizing an app. In Unity you can’t minimize an app. from the bar icon. Was this looked at and if so what was the feed back?
Hello Camaron. There should be three icons ⊗⊝⊜ in the top-left of the title-bar (these move into the top-bar when maximised). The middle button ⊝ allows minimisation of a window. Are you instead referring to being able to minimise a window by eg. right-clicking or toggling an icon from the Launcher at the left-hand of the screen?
I totally concur with your comments regarding the Dash. Perhaps we are missing something crucial about the current design,so it may at least help with user acceptance if someone on the UI design team could provide the rationale behind the decision to go with this Dash design. At present, as was stated above, there is way too much redundancy built into the design, and this will only serve to confuse and deter potential new users from adopting Ubuntu Unity as their primary workstation…….A great pity indeed.
+1 here. Since 7.04 I have always wondered why there is no tour that introduces the users to the basic features. After all, we want users switching from other OSs, so we have to go the extra step and quickly explain them what to do first.
i want to also say my thoughts about the accordion effect in unity that obviously is related to canonical design team.
the actual design lacks a lot.
only the icons at the bottom of unity stay folded and when u expand them the icons at the top don’t get folded by disappear out of site.
and as with the dash u had already a winner in the house. take a look at the second video in this link.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/perlow/ubuntu-linux-1104-a-whale-of-changes-for-canonicals-user-base/16125.
but as with the dash u didn’t implement it.
my question is why don’t we use this wonderful ideas?
I think this is a step backwards it was a much better design when both sides of the launcher were able to fold depending on where the mouse was or which application was in focus.
“Outcome: In a recent update, the icon ‘Home’ (Nautilus) has been renamed ‘File Manager’ and the icon has been modified to downplay the home relationship. This should help users recognise its role and lead them to look for an alternative place for system settings and other programmes and applications.”
Um, this wasn’t done for 11.04, right?
For those asking for a tour, check out the new Ubuntu Help. It’s not exactly a tour but I think it does a decent job explaining how to use Ubuntu. If you think it can be improved, stop by #ubuntu-doc and help out!
Or you could talk to the ubiquity-screenshow folks.
yes man this was my point in few and more clear words. the second video in the link although shows it all in very much clear way. that is the accordion effect i was expecting to see in unity.
The last thing I want to do with my computer is have the computer tour myself to death. Macs don’t need to do it, why should we?
Make it readily useable, don’t throw an encyclopedia at them.
It doesn’t have to be an encyclopedia, It just has to be a simple thing on where the most important things are to get started using unity. Of course, there will be a button you can press, so that it does not show up the next time the computer starts.
“For those asking for a tour, check out the new Ubuntu Help. It’s not exactly a tour but I think it does a decent job explaining how to use Ubuntu.”
Honestly, what average user would use the help or even know that help exists? Try this,.. install unity and then get your mum to open the help once it first starts. I bet you that she will have a lot of trouble
The person at the bottom just needs a change in mindset I think. You don’t specifically need to know anything about the drivers all you need to do is presume that the newer the release of Ubuntu the better the drivers. I really hope somebody talked with them afterwards and explained about all this stuff. Id hate to see people walk out of there and think this OS is crazy :D
Help was very visible in previous releases. Perhaps it will be more prominent in 11.10 but it’s not that hard to find.
Obviously Unity needs more usability work and design optimization but the new development cycle will be starting soon.
Great job guys! Never ever stop these tests! If I could I would send you my mother to test Unity! XD
She really loves Unity, it made her life a lot easier (10.10 version). I can’t wait to install 11.04 on her machines!
I’m talking about the icons/launchers on the bar at the left of the screen. You can launch an app. from them (obvioulsy) but can’t minimize it from the same icon.
I find this an obvious regression in usability.
I agree, keep the intro as simple as possible pointing out the key features. One of the issues that I see for potential new users is the built in redundancy that exits with a couple of the key features. Just talking about search, currently a user has a confusing array of options by which they can initiate a search. They can use the Launch bar lens, the Dash search bar, the Dash Find icon, the Home folder button at the top of the Launch bar…. In this case, many options does not equal ease of use, it will just confuse. So when creating the simple intro to Unity, which search facility will you recommend????
while surfing the net i found this wonderful presentation about unity’s conceptual flaws. the creator gives even some solutions which are not 4 everybody’s taste (even i don’t like many of them).
but about the flaws of unity this guy is dead right and he is saying the truth about them from a user’s point of view.
OK guys of Canonical Design Team, i really hope that u have 10 min of time to take a look at this presentation. it is worth it. if the flaws are there it means that smb didn’t thought about them when he created unity. we want it to be the perfect desktop right, and fixing this flaws brings us in the right path.
so this is the link. there are 2 arrows in the bottom left to walk through the presentation
https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dcrqkh5m_0chbhr6fx
I have been trying out 11.04 from a USB stick over the last few days and until I saw a link to Jorge Castro’s video (http://castrojo.blip.tv/file/4997614/) I realised I was missing out big time on many of the best features. There is very little to help new users (and that will be EVERY Ubuntu user that upgrades to 11.04) to quickly become fluent Unity users. There needs to be there to greet new users to Unity – a quick start guide – a road map – or whatever, that is on the desktop and ‘in your face’ when Unity first starts.
When you drag a window to the left or right, outside the screen, the system will “semi-maximize” to half of the screen, on the same side you dragged that window.
To make it a little easier to see this, before “semi-maximizing” the window, you can see a rectangle the size of the future semi-maximized window. I’ve been using the same feature a few times in Windows 7 and I think it’s quite useful.
I’m glad Ubuntu is starting using the good ideas in other OS’s because people are used to them, the learining curve it’s a lot easier and those ideas people like might be the best thing one can to in terms of usability. Still, there is much to learn from Windows / MacOS / etc. lots of years of experience and tests.
+1 here
The old but very effective Windows way is something to learn from.
Another method is to use the web application way from Google: when they launch a new design in Gmail / Google Docs / Google Reader / etc., there are interactive baloons next to the new item, explaining you how to use the new feature and linking to a video or a detailed presentation.
I totally agree with camaron. When you want to minimize a window you must go to the – sign and press that small item. It’s slow and many times not efficient. I would like to be able to minimize the windows I want from the same place (how it was on the taskbar).
Just imagine you have 4 windows, one of them is a playing movie. To minimize 3 of them and only see the movie, you have to get your mouse all over the screen as some might be in full screen mode and have the – on the top left side, others will have it in different positions on screen.
In time I’ll get use to the new good looking interface, just that is have some flaws that were pointed by people here and on other blogs.
Another important thing I do not agree with is how the applications are grouped. It might work nicely for an old Linux guy who knows exactly what he/she is looking for, but not a newbie like me and others. The ubuntu 10.10 menu which separated programs depending on their role was so EASY TO USE and I could just use if from the box, without any knowledge about linux. I don’t know the name of the programs to search for them each time I use them. I don’t want to learn all programs names, when in the previous version I could do it with just 2-3 mouse clicks.
Another important buggy-feature (10.10, 11.4 and I guess all other versions) is the way one can resize the window. You must be exactly on the margin to be able to do that. It has zero tolerance. Try the Windows mode and then come back to Ubuntu to see the difference. As it’s not so easy to stay on the corner of the window or the small line in the margin, the mouse “flickers”, changing the cursor very fast between the “resize-cursor” and normal cursor. I always have difficult times in resizing windows and I don’t have shaking hands.
sorry for typing mistakes :D (first line: “it has some flaws”, etc.)
Just watched the presentation, very logical and has some very good points. It structures the screen zones depending on the functionality. Great job Topher England!
I have the dock hidden on my Mac, and when I get a message the app icon bounces enough that it pops on and off screen as it bounces. I never fail to see it. Does Unity do that when you get a message?
I just found another thing that is less convenient: during file copying, you cannot find the copying status window unless you minimize all other windows in front of that window showing how much is copied and how much is left to copy.
The folding of the launcher is especially an issue if all your opened application are at the bottom of the launcher (and thus in folded state by default). It’s hard to switch applications or to access the workspace switcher.
I think Unity wants to alleviate users to concentrate on their work? In my humble opinion, easily switching between your opened applications has higher priority than launching new applications.
I would very much like to see *why* something is fixed in this test. For example, how come the white arrows are clear now? Have they been made more prominent, and if so, how? (I’m currently on 10.10 with Unity so I can only see the “before” state, not “after”.)
I have been using Natty long enough to be able to say smth about it.
Well in first place obviously the big think is the new unity DE right?
The 2 most important components of this interface are the dash and the unity launcher. Well my friends both of them have many, many conceptual flaws.
So let’s begin with the DASH.
Since the dash now is the only way of interacting with your computer, I thought that the developers would have made it beautiful, smth to lure users to use it, intuitive, functional, practical, well laid out, informative so that u can find everything u want in a glance, and easy to use so that the users are not scared of using it. Well the actual dash may be everything but none of the things that I mentioned above.
Once u fire it up u are greeted with 2 rows of icons. The first is a row of super ugly and anonymous monochrome icons, where only 2 categories of applications are present (why? The others are not so important to be present in the dash?)
The second represents 4 favorite/default applications which once pinned to the launcher u will never need them anymore so they are a huge waste of space.
The general lay out is poor both functionally and visually. The ubuntu software center is not easily represented there and the system settings is not even there but it’s hidden somewhere hard to find (the development guys maybe want us to play hide and seek). Obviously they thought it is not so important to have a place in the dash which is really strange.
Let’s move on to the unity launcher.
After playing around and trying to do some work using unity I understood that the most important icons in the launcher at least for me are the Applications (super ugly monochrome icon), the Places and files (super ugly monochrome icon) and the Desktop switcher icon. I also noticed that their position in the launcher is really awkward and poorly thought.
Once the launcher is populated by your pinned favorite apps these 3 icons get folded to the bottom of the launcher. In order to find them u must identify them, and expand them, and then click on them …. . Too much searching and a huge break in your work flow.
My solution for better functionality is really simple.
There must be 5 permanently pinned and not removable icons in the launcher, 3 at the top and 2 at the bottom. So let me explain:
1- The first permanently pinned, not removable icon at the top of the launcher must be the Applications icon (a beautiful one).
Clicking it should reveal the dash in the all applications mode
Right clicking should reveal a quick list with all the applications’ categories. Clicking them should reveal the dash with the relevant category
2- The second permanently pinned, not removable icon must be the Places icon (a beautiful one too).
Clicking it should reveal the dash with the Nautilus bookmarks, but also my computer, all the partitions and volumes and the networking options.
Right clicking it should reveal a 2 column quick list. The left one must represent the Nautilus bookmarks; the right one must represent my computer, the different partitions and volumes and networking options. Clicking any of them should reveal Nautilus (this time) in the relevant category.
3- The third permanently pinned, not removable icon must be the virtual Desktop switcher icon.
These 3 top icons must be separated with the other icons below by a marked line, which in the future should be an easy place to right click and reveal the launcher’s settings and preferences.
4- The forth one must be a permanently pinned, not removable PLACE above the trash bin. This must show only the mounted volumes (partitions, usbs, memo sticks or cards, plugged cameras etc) and should reveal itself only when a partitioned is mounted or a usb or camera is plugged in with some kind of animation that requires attention by the user right?
Clicking it should open a Nautilus window with the mounted volume content.
If more then one mounted volume is plugged in at the same time, clicking the icon should reveal a small window showing all of them. Clicking any should open a Nautilus window with the mounted volume content.
5- The Trash bin.
These 5 icons should not be affected by the accordion effect. They should stay unfolded and expanded all the time to make it easy for the user to identify them at any time with just a glance and click them.
All the other applications can be pinned at the space in the launcher between the 3d and the 4th permanently pinned icons. They can be and should be affected by the accordion effect.
This is my view of a functional launcher.
Thanks or taking time and reading this long post.
The accordion effect should just be tossed away.
Clean design is good design.
You obtain clean design by shedding the superfluous.
The accordion effect is distracting, inefficient and feels alien when compared with the rest of unity.
Thanks for another testimony of research and transparancy. Tested Unity since Alpha, which gave disastrous impressions, hence have been rather skeptical.
http://design.canonical.com/2010/11/usability-testing-of-unity/#comment-9779
btw. commenting here is a joy because of the less_is_more chic design, warm colours and easy_on_the_eye Ubuntu font.
Beta2 is a pleasant surprise and humble user is astonished about the positive results comming in daily from people obviously working day and night.
Testing Unity I’ve learned about myself. Thought I desperately need panels and menus, now there is no need anymore navigating endless through hierarchical menus. No more ugly applets floating around in the panel, rather consistent indicators.
Except questioning some usability, e.g. dash row proposing uninstalled apps, what are these apps doing – missing tooltips -. Some reasonable critic is mentioned in this 21 minute review of Unity.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCJAjK6g8eE
Regarding new users, there was as far as I remember an Examples folder in Hardy with a video introduction of Ubuntu. Idea: place a video on the desktop, by opening the video new user gets first impressions and experiences a standard application at the same time. No need to compare with MS-95 intro, have a look at Xfce hints after login.
Regarding comments about usability of dash, opening apps, placing, closing windows, I’d say Compiz needs to be promoted more and CCSM needs to move into main. Compiz is nothing new and treated like a stepchild. Although some call it fancy it makes workflow a lot easier, guess what, it’s both, fancy efficiency. Not sure if new users are aware that Compiz is the_window_manager. Unless avoiding learning curve navigation with shortcuts is a lot easier and faster, e.g. switching desktops, windows, move windows to another desktop, open, close, resize windows. Only one ‘super’ key opens (and closes) the dash, type three letters ‘syn’ and package manager appears incl. over 30000 packages.
btw. Compiz might be more than just a window manager.
http://design.canonical.com/2010/09/getting-physical/#comment-3480
Congratulations to Natty and looking forward to Oneiric.
Unity notifies you with 3 signals:
– launcher icon pops up (only half and a bit to fast to recognize)
– dash button in the upper left corner gets an [ugly] blue triangle
– message indicator in the upper right corner turns blue
Vincent,
The Launcher icons have been redesigned since the last testing and that helped the visibility of the white arrows.
Macs don’t do it because people buy the computer from an apple store where someone teaches them how to use it.
Performance
October report: “The level of performance in this regard significantly impaired the flow of use and the user experience.”
April testing: Unity was quick and responsive.
Outcome: This is fixed.
—–
This is definitively not fixed for me. The Dash still takes years to load.
Other than that, it rocks! Keep up the good work!
I found a bug:
1. Open Firefox
2. Open Gmail in compose mail screen
3. Open Firefox’ Downloads window
4. Press Super (Win) + D, to minimize all windows.
5. Now, let’s try to upload an attachment in Gmail by drag-and-drop:
5.1 In 10.10 & Windows & etc. you do that by simply dragging the file to attach over the taskbar (still in drag mode, don’t release the left mouse button) main Firefox window space, the window becomes active and you can then drop the file in email for the scripts to catch it.
5.2 In 11.4 as all Firefox is grouped in the same icon on the lauch bar, it should be logical that I should move the mouse with the file (still in drag mode) over the icon, then Firefox (as they are grouped I don’t know which window will open) will show and I can drop the file in the right position
5.3 But the surprise is this: in the previous step, Firefox will not show. The laucher bar will stay black and move left or right depending on where the mouse with the dragged file moves.
Actually the windows/application grouping is the first thing I disable in Windows (if it’s activated by default) as it gives me less control over which window I want to minimize or close from the taskbar. Maybe there is a solution to skip application grouping.
There is much to learn BY Windows and Mac OS X. Because people are used to a way of thinking doesn’t mean it’s the best. :P
Absolutely true. Also, Macs are not useable until you spend a lot of time (or an emplyee of Apple’s time) to get used to it. It took me twice (and more) the time to figure out a Mac after knowing both Windows and Ubuntu very well than figuring out Mandrake/SuSE/Ubuntu knowing only Windows.
And this thanks to the terminal, otherwise I would’ve been lost anyway.
Who knows, but who is there to say that Unity is the perfect / better? :) See all comments and then draw conclusions :)
When there is already a good way of doing things (based on many years of studies and work) and people are already used to that way, we should use that experience.
My own rants about Unity: http://vladalexandruionescu.blogspot.com/2011/04/gui-rants-and-wish-list.html
Even the big boys have not gotten their UI designs perfect, even after decades of innovation and evolution. It is true that we have learned to use their products irrespective of good / bad design decisions. Unity has a window of opportunity here not to repeat and implement some of the same bad UI design decisions. My suggestion to the Unity designers is to keep the average (read non-technical) user at the center of their design decisions. Why not reinstate the Netbook Dash with its large colourful application group icons. Using this Dash meant that all applications were just three clicks away, and you did not need to know the name of an application, which is great for new users. Secondly, an issue that some have already raised, centers on the Global Menu when using large screens. One solution to this issue could be to activate the traditional application menu which is tied to the application window when the window is not fully maximized and only active the Global menu when application window is fully maximized.
I’ve written the same things on Ubuntuforums, but I thought I _had_ to post here because you are talking about Unity usability.
I’ve done a clean install of Ubuntu 11.04 and I immediately noticed 3 things which I consider some good examples of bad usability:
1) If nothing is open (I mean, folders or programs) you’ll find some menus on the top bar, if you roll over with your mouse. The most useful is “Places” (“Risorse”, in italian). There you can find shortcuts to your local directories, but also shortcuts to network shares.
_But_ if you open something (a program or a folder) the menus on the top bar are replaced with the ones belonging to the open program or folder. So you need to reduce _all_ open windows to be able to see “Places” menu come out again, or you need to click on the “Home” icon in the dock, to open the Home directory (!?) and then click on the place or share you want to reach… uh?… but there I can’t find “Connect to the server”!! Oh yes, now I have to go back to the top bar menu… It’s so weird!
2) This point is connected to point 1. When you open a folder (i.e. the Home directory) or a program (i.e. Empathy) their menus are visible _one_at_a_time_ only in the top bar. But if I’m working in a window, I need its menus as close as possible (in the top bar of the window itself!); it’s the same, for example, if I’m managing contacts in Empathy.
On the contrary, I need to click on the open window (or program) to put it on the foreground, and then _roll_over_the_top_bar for making menus come out!
3) If you are working on a fullscreen application (i.e. LibreOffice) and you need to click on the “File” menu (which is always on the _extreme_left_ side of _all_ programs) you’ll often happen to make the dock bar come out unwanted, if you are not careful with your mouse!
That’s all (…only after few hours of working on this new environment).
What’s wrong with toy blocks? Don’t you see? This is your chance to re-live your toy block toying age in a socially acceptable way!
But seriously, text requires a lot of shape recognition and in-head translation, whereas a glance at a pictogram gives you simple shapes and color to associate with. It’s easier on your brain.
Example: Would you rather look at a spreadsheet full of data OR a chart drawn based on that spreadsheet?
Or maybe you’re playing life at “nightmare”-difficulty? ;)
smth that is really bugging me so much about unity is this: when u go at the unity plugin in compiz (and i want to stress here UNITY’S PLUGIN, not someone’s else) there is and option of making the panel transparent, BUT no option of making Unity or the dash transparent (at the UNITY’S PLUGIN !!!!). now how crazy is that?!!!
because try to change themes in ubuntu then. and what you will always have is an alien, black, ugly strip on your left (the launcher) and a black, alien, ugly rectangular in the middle of your screen (the dash).
no one of you design guys ever thought about smth that simple and intuitive (of course after having thought of making the panel transparent right?)
it feels like a thing half baked.
Violently agree. Placement of the launch bar and common decorations (iconize/restore/maximize) on the left is a very poor choice.
PS: Overall I am very impressed. From XP to Ubuntu literally in 15 min with ALL the subsystems properly set up is nothing short of awesome!
Oh! And PLEASE make evolution optional. I use web-based e-mail/scheduling systems for the last 10 years and for a clean GUI like Unity this should be supported.
isn’t this a great idea for the dash.
clean, simple, easy to understand and navigate through.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1793138115874&set=o.119162181429661&type=1&theater
Great work. Been using Ubuntu for over 5 years both at home and at my work (switch the whole office to it).
Not sure if this is the place, but have to provide some feedback here:
– there are several issues with stability with Java applications (Netbeans, Webex)
– Inability to “see” shared screen in Webex pretty much made Ubuntu 11.04 unusable for us.
– Several “little” things like how to customize Unity icons, add launchers for third party apps and such are a big annoyance.
– support idea of having a tutorial, but even more an idea to make the thing stable. Going from 10.10 to 11.04 and now probably have to go back to 10.10 (Java nad Webex issue) is a big deal and leaves bad taste in the mouth (reminds me of Windows when we moved from NT to 2000 and some native Windows applications stopped working).
– please address these stability and Java related issues ASAP. We are even thinking of giving up Ubuntu and switching to Debian.
– Unity on Ubuntu looks great, but to me it seems it was to early to launch it and users should have been warned that this is ALPHA version or something. The sad part is that even when enter into Ubuntu Classic with no effect still cannot use Webex screen share (worked perfect on 10.10)
I experience the same problem with Webex.Based on your comment you seems to be sure the problem is in Ubuntu. Do you have any ideas what is causing the problem? I tried a couple of java plugin versions without success (i’m not sure what I used with 10.10 as that laptop died).