Blog posts written by Mark Shuttleworth

Mark Shuttleworth
31 March 2014

#10 Ubuntu is built on IAAS for IAAS users

Ubuntu User Experience

Ubuntu is famous for “making things easy”. That’s just as important on the cloud as it is in consumer devices, and we bring the same user-centric design to command-line driven core OS environments on the cloud that drives our desktop, tablet and phone development. The result is a lightweight, clean and fast platform for developers and dev ...

Mark Shuttleworth
8 March 2014

The very best edge of all

Ubuntu Design

The bottom edge is the most natural one to use, and Ubuntu has given it to developers to make the most of. Some design guidance establishes a framework for evaluating your creativity, but it leaves a very wide degree of creative freedom and we’re already seeing a load of superb interactions coming to the fore in core and community apps. H ...

Mark Shuttleworth
27 March 2012

Holistic UI is smarter UX

Ubuntu Design

It’s only by looking at the whole, that we can design great experiences. And only by building a community of both system and application developers that care about the whole, that we can make those designs real. ...

Mark Shuttleworth
24 January 2012

Introducing the HUD. Say hello to the future of the menu.

Ubuntu Design

The HUD replaces traditional menus in applications targeting Unity. Say what you mean, instead of navigating through a tree of options. Initially the HUD is shaped as a fast and smart look-ahead search through menus, but over the next four releases, it will gain more sophisticated kinds of interaction. ...

Mark Shuttleworth
27 November 2011

Ubuntu TV discussions hot up

Ubuntu Design

Threads are coalescing around the concept of an Ubuntu TV experience, driven by Unity. ...

Mark Shuttleworth
16 August 2011

Dash takes shape for 11.10 Unity

Ubuntu Design

Feature freeze for 11.10 brings the likely look and feel of Unity for this release into focus. We’ve moved from Dash Places to Scopes and Lenses, introduced more sophisticated filtering and cleaned up some visual elements. ...

Mark Shuttleworth
3 March 2011

Ayatana overlay scrollbars: something truly Natty

Ubuntu Design

Natty will feature a world first – overlay scrollbars in desktop applications. The goal is to put content first and banish chrome, while still paying attention to the needs of the desktop environment – mouse pointers. These were designed and developed by Canonical as part of the Ayatana initiative, improving both focus and awareness for u ...

Mark Shuttleworth
28 September 2010

Something New and Beautiful: Ubuntu, distilled, in type

Ubuntu Design

The Ubuntu font represents the values of Ubuntu and Canonical, distilled into a typeface that is highly legible on screen, clean and balanced in print, professionally designed yet imbued with the wisdom of the whole Ubuntu community. I hope it’s a benchmark for more libre font work, and a catalyst for improvements in the tools of typograp ...

Mark Shuttleworth
20 August 2010

10.10.10.10.10…..

Ubuntu Design

Here’s a way to show off your movie-making creative skills AND promote whatever you think the coolest things in 10.10 are: make a Maverick Movie! ...

Mark Shuttleworth
16 August 2010

Gestures with multitouch in Ubuntu 10.10

Ubuntu Design

Gestures are a powerful interaction language that will be as relevant for desktops as it is on phones and tablets. Ubuntu 10.10 has a gesture framework that allows for gesture chaining or composition into rich “gesture sentences”. You can use multi-touch gestures for window management with Unity in 10.10 Netbook Edition or on your desktop ...

Mark Shuttleworth
4 August 2010

Making room in the sound indicator

Ubuntu Design

Showing a few mockups of track data overlayed on album art in the new sound menu in Maverick Meerkat, 10.10. ...

Mark Shuttleworth
3 May 2010

Window indicators

Ubuntu Design

“Windicators” are window indicators, on the right of the title bar, which follow the same pattern as the Ayatana indicators that Ubuntu uses on in the panel. ...