Why design matters

[Steve Dodier-Lazaro]

Hi Patrik,

Generally speaking I think we are at Xfce very open to non-development
contributions (though right now what we need the most dramatically IS
developers' time). I raised the issue because of the very obvious
connotation that design has to people outside the field (aesthetics and
visual aspect of products). I think we pretty much have the brand identity
and looks of Xfce covered with the Shimmer project, even though right now
the default theme hasn't been updated (because of technical issues as far
as I recall). I'm not involved with that so won't talk about it further.

What kind of designer are you, and what are you likely to be the best at if
you jump in? For the record I don't think we have a professional designer
on board right now. I personally am a computer scientist, but do usability
research and HCI theory research for a living. Because of that I might
occasionally put a big emphasis on justifying why a change is needed and
whose needs a proposed approach fulfills.

I think one of Simon's more urgent projects is to re-organise the settings
UIs of Xfce, so it would be useful to have some information architecture
skills (something I don't :p), to have experiment designs to either assess
the findability of different settings options or figure out how potential
Xfce users would express a need to change a specific setting.

As I said in my previous email, another much needed contribution is to
analyse some survey data and start redesigning the interactions around
session saving/resumption (with a focus on documenting the capabilities you
need out of the OS since I'm not sure yet how we can suspend and resume
GNOME applications safely).

Of course, if you are able and willing to do graphic design contributions,
that is also equally welcome! As Simon pointed out there might be
technicalities that we have to deal with, but I personally would love all
my systray icons and panel plugins to behave identically (with regard to
spacing, appearance on focus, and looks of the popup menu when clicked).

Cheers,

On 25 July 2015 at 14:35, Patrik Bubák <bubapa at privacyrequired.com> wrote:

> Hi Steve,
>
> what you wanted me, or anyone else to be aware of by going through that
> article I understand.
>
> Talking for myself, the only reason why I haven't provided anything else
> but writing down some basic thoughts is because I wanted to know the
> community's standing on the matter.
>
> I am a designer by degree, dedicated to self-improvement in every area I
> am involved in, so believe me when I say extensive research and a proper
> design process are not something unfamiliar to me. Rest assured I am not
> somebody who needs to be lectured about the design process, but I
> understand why your raised this.
>
>
> On Sat, 2015-07-25 at 14:09 +0100, Steve Dodier-Lazaro wrote:
>
> Hi Patrik,
>
>
>
> I'm a bit too busy to go point by point through your email, but I urge you
> (and anyone else serious about making design contributions to Xfce) to read
> this: http://www.markboulton.co.uk/journal/visual-design-is-not-a-thing
>
> Remember, design is a family of evidence-based processes. We currently
> have data sitting that needs to be analysed in order to redesign
> interactions around session saving and resuming, and I don't have the time
> to get started on that. Anyone is free to help, so long as they understand
> the basics of quantitative analysis and grounded theory.
>
> Cheers,
>
>
> On 25 July 2015 at 13:32, Nicolas Kovacs <info at microlinux.fr> wrote:
>
> Le 25/07/2015 12:48, Patrik Bubák a écrit :
> > Now I'm not going to give you charts, but it's a fact that visually Xfce
> > is one of the least popular desktops, although I am aware it was created
> > for speed and functionality.
>
> I don't know where you get that information.
>
> My company installs Xfce-based desktops for schools, town halls, SMB's,
> public libraries. Nobody complained about it being ugly.
>
> http://www.microlinux.fr/mled.php
>
> Xfce is perfect as it is.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Niki Kovacs
>
> --
> Microlinux - Solutions informatiques durables
> 7, place de l'église - 30730 Montpezat
> Web  : http://www.microlinux.fr
> Mail : info at microlinux.fr
> Tél. : 04 66 63 10 32
>
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>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Steve Dodier-Lazaro
> PhD Student
> University College London
> Free Software Developer
>
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>
> --
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>
> Nothing ruins creativity like too many voices weighing in. We call it the *Ice
> Cream Principle*. Tell 10 people to go get ice cream with one condition:
> they all have to agree on one flavour. That flavour is going to be
> chocolate or vanilla every time. Groups of people don't agree on what's
> cool or interesting, they agree on what's easy to agree on.
>
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-- 
Steve Dodier-Lazaro
PhD Student
University College London
Free Software Developer
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