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  1. Blog
  2. Matthew Paul Thomas
Matthew Paul Thomas

Matthew Paul Thomas

10 posts

Matthew Paul Thomas
3 July 2017

Designing build.snapcraft.io

Ubuntu Featured

Many open-source software developers use GitHub. Let’s make it as easy as possible for them to build and release their code automatically. ...

Matthew Paul Thomas
16 May 2013

System Settings for Ubuntu Phone

Ubuntu Notes

The design process for System Settings on the phone involved a competitor evaluation, identifying user journeys, generating many possibilities for the overview screen, and designing many individual settings screens. ...

Matthew Paul Thomas
23 November 2012

Solving design problems

Ubuntu Featured

To solve a design problem, define the target user, test the existing solution (if any), evaluate alternative solutions, and test with real users. The more of these steps you can follow, the better the results. ...

Matthew Paul Thomas
13 April 2012

System status menu refinements in Ubuntu 12.10

Ubuntu Design

For Ubuntu 12.04, we’re planning to merge the user and system menus, make major changes to the messaging menu, introduce a new sync menu, and retire the printing status menu. There are plenty of smaller changes you can help out with, too. ...

Matthew Paul Thomas
7 March 2011

That’s it, we’re quitting

Ubuntu Design

The “Quit” command in applications today is a relic from the days when the original Macintosh had no hard disk and couldn’t multitask. Modern applications have made this command increasingly annoying. Fortunately, though, modern PCs have also made it increasingly unnecessary. Mobile operating systems have, for the most part, eliminated th ...

Matthew Paul Thomas
30 June 2010

Help wanted: Testing programs that use the notification area

Ubuntu Notes

We have a list of dozens of Ubuntu programs that use the notification area. What we need now is a description of how each of them use it. ...

Matthew Paul Thomas
27 May 2010

The keyboard menu

Ubuntu Design

A new keyboard menu will replace both the keyboard layout toggle from Ubuntu’s doomed notification area, and the IBus menu for choosing a keyboard input method. ...

Matthew Paul Thomas
6 May 2010

A unified menu bar for Ubuntu Netbook Edition

Ubuntu Notes

Using a single menu bar at the top of the screen, instead of separate menu bars inside each window, seems like a pretty simple change. But it’s more complex than it appears, and we’ll need lots of help. ...

Matthew Paul Thomas
23 April 2010

Refining the battery status menu

Ubuntu Notes

As part of the notification area transition, we’re adapting the Gnome Power Manager item to be a system status menu. We’re interested in your feedback on the design and any improvements we can make. ...

Matthew Paul Thomas
21 April 2010

Farewell to the notification area

Ubuntu Notes

Ubuntu is phasing out the traditional Gnome notification area, because of its ineffectiveness at notifying people of things, and its inconsistent behavior. Many programs that previously used the notification area should use other notification mechanisms instead. Some notification area items will be replaced by various system status menus ...