** Description changed: Ubuntu ships with a useful pre-installed User Guide, but it's rather difficult for users to find it. Amanda has always used Windows but is frustrated with her computer because it might have a virus. She hears on the radio about something new called Ubuntu that doesn't get viruses and manages to install it. The new user interface is a lot different than she was expecting so she looks for clues about how to use it. For Amanda to find the pre-installed Ubuntu Desktop Guide, she'll have to figure out how to open the Dash and type Help. She could also click "More Apps" and "See more results" and scroll down and find Help. Once a user has mastered the Dash enough to find Help, they already know a fair amount of what people need the Help for. Help is one of the more important parts of the interface because it can help people find System Settings or how to troubleshoot their network or how to enable accessibility and much more. It is possible to come with a whole bunch of others user scenarios where users at all ability levels won't know how to do things without guidance. This is a regression as every Ubuntu release before 11.04 had a Help button very prominently displayed as a default launcher in the panel next to Firefox. Even Evolution was removed in later releases but not Help. As Phil Bull said, "I think the conclusion with help launchers is that they should be (a) *particularly* easy to discover, to the point of being obvious, but (b) unintrusive, to avoid annoying people who don't want to use them. There can be a fine line between the two, but I think a help button on the dash sounds quite sensible." Possible Solutions ============== In bug 778289 the Documentation Team suggested adding a default launcher item shortcut for Help. This has the advantage of being very easy to add, even after UI Freeze. If it's done without a quicklist then it shouldn't even need translations to be updated. Or it could be a first-run popup like is done in Windows Vista and higher or in recent releases of Linux Mint. http://beginlinux.com/images/desktop/linux-mint/linux-mint-install12.jpg The presence of a Ubuntu help button on the default Firefox page helps with this problem but since the Google custom search on that page is so much worse than normal Google, some users quickly change their homepage to something that works better. Some type of contextual help could be a better solution, possibly for 12.04 but we need at least a partial solution now for 11.10. ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10 Package: unity 4.18.0-0ubuntu1 Date: Tue Sep 27 04:56:19 2011 + + + ---------------------------------------------- + Desired Solution: + + - A 'Ubuntu Help' option will be added to the system menu, see the + Indicator specs at http://design.canonical.com/the-toolkit/ + + - The home page of the user documentation should prominently feature a + link to http://askubuntu.com/ + + - The visual design of the user documentation should be brought into + line with the Ubuntu brand. See http://design.ubuntu.com/ for the full + set of brand guidelines and materials
** Description changed: Ubuntu ships with a useful pre-installed User Guide, but it's rather difficult for users to find it. Amanda has always used Windows but is frustrated with her computer because it might have a virus. She hears on the radio about something new called Ubuntu that doesn't get viruses and manages to install it. The new user interface is a lot different than she was expecting so she looks for clues about how to use it. For Amanda to find the pre-installed Ubuntu Desktop Guide, she'll have to figure out how to open the Dash and type Help. She could also click "More Apps" and "See more results" and scroll down and find Help. Once a user has mastered the Dash enough to find Help, they already know a fair amount of what people need the Help for. Help is one of the more important parts of the interface because it can help people find System Settings or how to troubleshoot their network or how to enable accessibility and much more. It is possible to come with a whole bunch of others user scenarios where users at all ability levels won't know how to do things without guidance. This is a regression as every Ubuntu release before 11.04 had a Help button very prominently displayed as a default launcher in the panel next to Firefox. Even Evolution was removed in later releases but not Help. As Phil Bull said, "I think the conclusion with help launchers is that they should be (a) *particularly* easy to discover, to the point of being obvious, but (b) unintrusive, to avoid annoying people who don't want to use them. There can be a fine line between the two, but I think a help button on the dash sounds quite sensible." - Possible Solutions + Ideas ============== In bug 778289 the Documentation Team suggested adding a default launcher item shortcut for Help. This has the advantage of being very easy to add, even after UI Freeze. If it's done without a quicklist then it shouldn't even need translations to be updated. Or it could be a first-run popup like is done in Windows Vista and higher or in recent releases of Linux Mint. http://beginlinux.com/images/desktop/linux-mint/linux-mint-install12.jpg The presence of a Ubuntu help button on the default Firefox page helps with this problem but since the Google custom search on that page is so much worse than normal Google, some users quickly change their homepage to something that works better. Some type of contextual help could be a better solution, possibly for 12.04 but we need at least a partial solution now for 11.10. ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10 Package: unity 4.18.0-0ubuntu1 Date: Tue Sep 27 04:56:19 2011 - ---------------------------------------------- Desired Solution: + + The following changes have been signed off by the design team. - A 'Ubuntu Help' option will be added to the system menu, see the Indicator specs at http://design.canonical.com/the-toolkit/ - The home page of the user documentation should prominently feature a link to http://askubuntu.com/ - The visual design of the user documentation should be brought into line with the Ubuntu brand. See http://design.ubuntu.com/ for the full set of brand guidelines and materials ** Changed in: ayatana-design Status: In Progress => Fix Committed ** Tags added: udp -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/860501 Title: User Documentation should be easier to access To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ayatana-design/+bug/860501/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
