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Arian van Gend is an Ubuntu user who has started a project to gather community ideas for Unity with the intent to present it to the Unity design team.  But before doing that, he wants some feedback from you.

The ideas are well structured in a document available HERE, and they try to cover basically everything: from the Unity launcher, overlay scrollbars or Dash to Global Menu or Application Indicators.


Here are a few of the ideas available in this document:

- An easy Lens switcher:

Unity mockup - easy lens switcher

Clicking the Ubuntu button should open the Dash in its universal search state. It should also change the Launcher content to a list of Lenses, displayed in a similar fashion as other items on the Launcher. The first of these Lenses should always be the Universal search Lens. The other Lenses will be manipulable in the same way application launchers would be, meaning they can be reordered, removed, and have quick lists.



- Contacts Lens (integrated with the new GNOME 3.2 Contacts application):

Dash - contacts lens



- Move the menu into title bar. It shows at least the first two items before the title itself (which would be centered), and folds out completely, over the title, when the mouse hovers over it. This preserves the link between the application and the menu, maintains the visibility and findability of the menu, and allows quick use.



- Dynamic workspaces: always have one empty work-space on the right. The bottom of the screen shows the dynamic work-spaces in full-screen when holding the mouse there (or when three finger swiping up). This works the same way as it does for the Launcher. It’s displayed as a filmstrip of work-spaces, in which the current work-space is slightly bigger than the others. A work-space shows all windows on that work-space next to each other, so picking one is easy. Clicking a work-space switches to that work-space. Clicking on a window focuses that window. Dragging a launcher to a work-space opens the application there. Dragging an app to a work-space moves it there.



These and a lot more ideas / mockups are available in the document I was telling you about so check it out and let us know what you think!


Thanks to Arian for the tip!