Archive for the ‘Ubuntu’ Category

Every three months, I conduct benchmark usability testing.  I’m calling these tests ‘benchmark testing’ because the aim of these sessions is to measure our progress towards achieving a great user experience with Ubuntu.  Last testing took place in October 2011.  I am now preparing for testing 12.04 to take place a couple of weeks from [...]

First of all, thank you all for your feedback in both the blog post and, most importantly, the survey. Over 2000 surveys were completed, which is amazing. We are really quite overwhelmed with the encouraging feedback received at this stage, so I thought it worth sharing some of the highlights.  Quotes It almost spells out [...]

How is Unity designed?  How can I contribute to this process?  Why did you make thus and such decision? The Unity Design Team is frequently asked these questions, and this article aims to de-mystify our design process and highlight the different ways in which volunteer contributions can help improve the Ubuntu user experience. Before diving [...]

We first posted a blog back in December about our work on the multi-monitor experience for Ubuntu. Back then we published the first revision of the Multiple Monitors UX Specification, and got some great feedback. We have taken comments, corrections and suggestions on board, and have come up with an updated multi-monitor specification. The specification [...]

If you’ve ever had to create Ubuntu or Canonical related design materials, chances are you had a look at the Brand Guidelines, which, until now, have only existed in the form of bulky PDFs. Those days are over, as we happily introduce the brand new Ubuntu Brand Guidelines site, where you can read the guidelines [...]

The HUD replaces traditional menus in applications targeting Unity. Say what you mean, instead of navigating through a tree of options. Initially the HUD is shaped as a fast and smart look-ahead search through menus, but over the next four releases, it will gain more sophisticated kinds of interaction.

As developers all over the world sink their teeth into the new features for the next release of Ubuntu it’s time to get out our cameras, brushes and pencils out and start creating the images that will make up the wallpapers for the next release. 12.04 will be an LTS so the same super high [...]

While we were sprinting in Budapest, we had the opportunity to meet the team responsible for such an interesting and inspiring product. We have in fact been lucky enough, thanks to some interesting connections, to be invited at Prezi’s! Of course this only after a hard day of work! Prezi is a presentation tool which [...]

For the multi-monitor design project, we have been making use of prototypes to develop and test some of the finer interactions of the system. One such crucial element is the reveal of the Launcher, particularly as we are exploring having a Launcher on each display. The motivation for making the Launcher available from any display [...]

With Unity we have been trying to raise the bar innovating in the User Experience with new UI elements, such as Dash and Overlay Scrollbars. But this shouldn’t come at the cost of overlooking less exciting but essential core areas of the OS. Last cycle we started thinking about how to improve System Settings, and in [...]