Ubuntu One Client

Bug #362561
Comment #3

Comment 3 for bug 362561

Revision history for this message

Ted Gould (ted) wrote on 2009-04-16: Re: [Bug 362561] Re: Icon in notification area

On Thu, 2009-04-16 at 20:44 +0000, Joshua Blount wrote:
> 1. Quit the daemon

I guess it seems like this should be a setting in preferences. Turn on
Ubuntu One, turn off Ubuntu One.

> 2. Connect / Disconnect

Isn't this what the network manager icon is for? Why would I want to
turn off Ubuntu One independent of my network settings?

> 3. Go to a webpage to report a bug

It would seem unlikely that I'd want to do this while running another
application or doing another task. I see no reason to add an icon to
provide this while running.

> 4. Open their Ubuntu One folder in the file manager

Isn't that what Places->Ubuntu One is for?

> 5. Go to the files UI on http://ubuntuone.com

Is there something I can do there that I can't do in Places->Ubuntu One?

> It's presence also serves as a visual reminder of the service, which is
> quite transparent to the user, so it may be helpful to have a cue to
> help remind you to take advantage of Ubuntu One.

Marketing is never a good reason to clutter the user's desktop. Just
like I don't need a Logitech icon to know what brand my mouse is on
Windows. If users don't think to use the service it isn't useful
enough :)

> The spinner currently communicates the transition process (between being
> disconnected, to being connected), but I agree there may be a better way
> to communicate that. Could you go into detail by what you consider 'real
> information' ? I think the state between connection and disconnection is
> something valuable to communicate to our users.

Again, I don't see any reason why connected/disconnected wouldn't be
exactly the same as my networking settings. But it seems like that
information could be displayed as a notification. It's okay if you miss
it, and I don't really need to know that it's happening.

> Perhaps a preference to show / hide the icon in the notification area
> would go a long way to serve your use case? Can you confirm this?

No. Preferences for bad ideas don't make them good ideas :) It's more
important to look at the information that needs to be communicated and
come up with a really good way to get that to the users. Preferences
just cause confusion and documentation nightmares.

On Thu, 2009-04-16 at 20:44 +0000, Joshua Blount wrote:
> 1. Quit the daemon

I guess it seems like this should be a setting in preferences.  Turn on
Ubuntu One, turn off Ubuntu One.

> 2. Connect / Disconnect

Isn't this what the network manager icon is for?  Why would I want to
turn off Ubuntu One independent of my network settings?

> 3. Go to a webpage to report a bug

It would seem unlikely that I'd want to do this while running another
application or doing another task.  I see no reason to add an icon to
provide this while running.

> 4. Open their Ubuntu One folder in the file manager

Isn't that what Places->Ubuntu One is for?

> 5. Go to the files UI on http://ubuntuone.com

Is there something I can do there that I can't do in Places->Ubuntu One?

> It's presence also serves as a visual reminder of the service, which is
> quite transparent to the user, so it may be helpful to have a cue to
> help remind you to take advantage of Ubuntu One.

Marketing is never a good reason to clutter the user's desktop.  Just
like I don't need a Logitech icon to know what brand my mouse is on
Windows.  If users don't think to use the service it isn't useful
enough :)

Again, I don't see any reason why connected/disconnected wouldn't be
exactly the same as my networking settings.  But it seems like that
information could be displayed as a notification.  It's okay if you miss
it, and I don't really need to know that it's happening.

> Perhaps a preference to show / hide the icon in the notification area
> would go a long way to serve your use case? Can you confirm this?

No.  Preferences for bad ideas don't make them good ideas :)  It's more
important to look at the information that needs to be communicated and
come up with a really good way to get that to the users.  Preferences
just cause confusion and documentation nightmares.