..on Wed, Dec 26, 2007 at 11:14:49AM +0100, Thorsten Wilms wrote: > On Wed, 2007-12-26 at 00:27 +0100, julian wrote: > > > then so be it. i strongly believe Ubuntu artwork development needs to > > follow the same consensual process as any other aspect of the project's > > development: users needs to be able to report what they consider > > 'bugs' in the art and design aspects and feel they are being heard. > > we respond to those bugs by coming up with working solution. ideally > > they get on board and help out. > > It's a new idea to me that everything runs on bug reports. What about > blueprints and the sprints and summits? Regarding "consensual" - ever > heard of the Self Appointed Benevolent Dictator for Life? ;) > > What would you do with a "I don't like that colour" bug, anyway? > Change that colour and have the same report from someone else? >
as i've said earlier, i'm into the idea of a public vote on mockups (and including the current theme) made by list members within the first two 6-8 weeks of each release cycle. i think most of the time ubuntu-art is shooting in the dark, so to speak, where envisaging a best-fit default theme is concerned; choosing externally asserted design agendas over plentiful public/user opinion. at which point are we allowing - and encouraging - Ubuntu users to feed back into the design process? i don't see a channel for that. the question "who is our target audience" makes little sense to these ends, i think. Ubuntu is a freely distributable operating system made with the ends of being as 'generally useful' (whatever that means) to as many people as possible. the 'target audience' is whoever is using Ubuntu and, as such, their thoughts on the artwork ought to be considered with sincerity accordingly. if Ubuntu-art has a target audience, then Ubuntu itself must have a target audience - something i've never seen Canonical define (and thankfully so). > > > if the bulk of users simply don't like brown - which is the fairly > > clearly the case - then you have a choice to either listen to the > > users and invite them to submit alternative designs or choose the > > same semi-closed myopic design-agenda the art currently has. > > There also have been many saying that Ubuntu should stay away from > blue. Cool, let's rule out brown and blue! > fine by me. we'd be evidencing a disappointing lack of imagination if green, blue and brown based palettes described our world of possible choices. > > > Ken is approaching all this with real clarity i think: not too big > > to ignore the fact that if one wildly impossible mockup on a forum > > by a non-list-member receives 19 pages of praise, it deserves > > consideration and consequent feasible response. > > What exactly would there be to consider, regarding that mockup? I > thought a "bulk of users simply don't like brown"? You call it > "wildly impossible" yourself. Not to forget that it shows no windows, > no widgets. It's easy to do a clean and consistent design if you leave > everything out. > as the comments in those pages make clear, they just like the colours and the overall design continuity. admittedly they also like the impossible 'dock' like menu. why expect users to be profound on the topic, let alone thinking in terms of what is and isn't feasible? all they know is that they like it - and that's as good a start as any IMO. > > > this approach has worked brilliantly for other aspects of the Ubuntu > > project and there's no reason it can't work as well here. comparing > > Apple's design agenda to that of Ubuntu is absurd: this is a > > volunteer project remember, made by people for people. two fish with > > vastly different budgets and histories. > > Somewhat true. But should we aim low because of that? > are the standards of Ubuntu users low? i don't think so. they /are/ the 'target audience' remember. without them and their opinions this whole conversation - and the questions it raises - is sheer solipsism. aiming high, in my opinion, is developing a design that more-than-satisfies a supposed majority of Ubuntu using public. until we know what it is most Ubuntu users actually want, we cannot have a clear design charter. to these ends, we need to create a central context for users to vote and comment on designs/mockups in an attempt to determine the broadest trends/vectors of opinion and of taste. -- julian oliver http://julianoliver.com http://selectparks.net -- ubuntu-art mailing list ubuntu-art@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-art
