Unity

Bug #896709
Comment #4

Comment 4 for bug 896709

Revision history for this message

Chris (fabricator4) wrote on 2011-11-27:

Yes, I've considered Alt-Tab, Alt-` etc, and it's very good, however the original problem is unchanged: "selecting instances of a minimised application is not intuitive or simple" I'm not talking about what my preferences are, or what I think of Unity, I'm talking about new users who are having their first Ubuntu experiences. Keyboard shortcuts are great and I'm all for them, and would be disappointed if they did not exist.

If you consider bug #1 as very important as I do, then consider if the first perceptions of a new user are also very important. One of the most confusing things about Unity at the moment is finding minimised windows when there are more than one from any particular application. I'm not talking about children using a computer for the first time, I'm talking about professional non-IT people who have been using a computer (usually Windows or similar) all their working lives and are used to having several documents open and only one click away. While clicking on the launcher icon will bring focus to a single minimised application, the next thing a new user will look for is how to select between more than one instance of the same application. Since there is no mouse method to easily do this, intuition goes out the window (pun not intended but gratefully received) and confusion results.

As I said, keyboard shortcuts are great, but users will come to use and rely on them once they've mastered the GUI and feel comfortable. Expecting them to find them from the get-go and still feel comfortable with the user interface seems to be backwards thinking.

As far as "any type of interface" being cumbersome to use, I have to disagree strongly. On this machine right now I have eight applications open on this workspace alone. There's a system monitor, this browser, two tax invoices, two images in edit, and two nautilus windows: all of these are only one click away. Other workspaces with Xchat and Transmission are likewise just one click away. Things get cumbersome under Unity, because (1)the presence of minimised windows is not obvious at all times and (2) they are more than a click away, and (3) for new users the method is not obvious or intuitive.

What is this marvelous interface I have? You've probably guessed it's non other than the rather dated looking Gnome 2 on 10.04 LTS. Don't get me wrong: it's obvious that Unity is the way forward, but it's currently lacking things that make some operations simple and intuitive and which we now take for granted in Classic Gnome. My bug report is not an attack on Unity (though I would understand if I've hit a raw nerve) but a wish for it to become something more than it is currently.

To respond to your suggestion to use applications with tabs: I see your point but there's two very important caveats: Many of the applications that are installed as standard with the LiveCD (and are available for Ubuntu) do not use tabbing for multiple data files. The only one I have open at the moment with this facility is the browser - tabbed browsing is indeed a gift. I need two separate file browsers open because Nautilus with split windows just doesn't have the screen real estate to display the detail that I need - finding one image from a great range of very similar images based on date, size and name. I have two tax invoices open because I was referring to one while writing the other - something that would be very annoying if they were tabbed windows, and two images are open because I'm editing one while referring to the colour correction that has been done to the other and this is something that is very common in a professional environment. Tabbed functionality for applications is only a good thing in some cases - it's not the panacea that you are looking for though I agree for the example I gave it would be useful (except that Document Viewer does not have tabs).

Lastly, I'd like to put forward the plight of those that would have to rely on accessibility controls to use some of the ninja style keyboard controls required by Unity. Many of those with severe disability can use a mouse but dislike racing sticky keys intensely but they've been given no mouse-only option in this case.

Chris

Yes, I've considered Alt-Tab, Alt-` etc, and it's very good, however the original problem is unchanged: "selecting instances of a minimised application is not intuitive or simple"  I'm not talking about what my preferences are, or what I think of Unity, I'm talking about new users who are having their first Ubuntu experiences.  Keyboard shortcuts are great and I'm all for them, and would be disappointed if they did not exist.

If you consider bug #1 as very important as I do, then consider if the first perceptions of a new user are also very important.  One of the most confusing things about Unity at the moment is finding minimised windows when there are more than one from any particular application.  I'm not talking about children using a computer for the first time, I'm talking about professional non-IT people who have been using a computer (usually Windows or similar) all their working lives and are used to having several documents open and only one click away.  While clicking on the launcher icon will bring focus to a single minimised application, the next thing a new user will look for is how to select between more than one instance of the same application.  Since there is no mouse method to easily do this, intuition goes out the window (pun not intended but gratefully received) and confusion results.

As I said, keyboard shortcuts are great, but users will come to use and rely on them once they've mastered the GUI and feel comfortable.  Expecting them to find them from the get-go and still feel comfortable with the user interface seems to be backwards thinking.

As far as "any type of interface" being cumbersome to use, I have to disagree strongly.  On this machine right now I have eight applications open on this workspace alone.  There's a system monitor, this browser, two tax invoices, two images in edit, and two nautilus windows: all of these are only one click away.  Other workspaces with Xchat and Transmission are likewise just one click away.  Things get cumbersome under Unity, because (1)the presence of minimised windows is not obvious at all times and (2) they are more than a click away, and (3) for new users the method is not obvious or intuitive.

What is this marvelous interface I have?  You've probably guessed it's non other than the rather dated looking Gnome 2 on 10.04 LTS.  Don't get me wrong: it's obvious that Unity is the way forward, but it's currently lacking things that make some operations simple and intuitive and which we now take for granted in Classic Gnome. My bug report is not an attack on Unity (though I would understand if I've hit a raw nerve) but a wish for it to become something more than it is currently.

To respond to your suggestion to use applications with tabs: I see your point but there's two very important caveats:  Many of the applications that are installed as standard with the LiveCD (and are available for Ubuntu) do not use tabbing for multiple data files.  The only one I have open at the moment with this facility is the browser - tabbed browsing is indeed a gift.  I need two separate file browsers open because Nautilus with split windows just doesn't have the screen real estate to display the detail that I need - finding one image from a great range of very similar images based on date, size and name.  I have two tax invoices open because I was referring to one while writing the other - something that would be very annoying if they were tabbed windows,  and two images are open because I'm editing one while referring to the colour correction that has been done to the other and this is something that is very common in a professional environment.  Tabbed functionality for applications is only a good thing in some cases - it's not the panacea that you are looking for though I agree for the example I gave it would be useful (except that Document Viewer does not have tabs).

Lastly, I'd like to put forward the plight of those that would have to rely on accessibility controls to use some of the ninja style keyboard controls required by Unity.  Many of those with severe disability can use a mouse but dislike racing sticky keys intensely but they've been given no mouse-only option in this case.

Chris