Difference between revisions of "Tango Desktop Project"
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The goal of the Tango Desktop Project is to create a consistent user experience for Open Source software. | The goal of the Tango Desktop Project is to create a consistent user experience for Open Source software. | ||
| + | [[Image:Different-themes.png|thumb|right|Collage of various toolkits with different themes]] | ||
=== The free desktop is made of many different toolkits === | === The free desktop is made of many different toolkits === | ||
Several popular applications now exist, all using different toolkits: Mozilla, Evolution, the Gimp, Konqueror, and so forth... On a typical desktop there are often several used at the same time, creating an inconsistent look and feel and a lack of integration resulting in a less than stellar desktop experience. This mish-mash of application styles ''hurts users''! | Several popular applications now exist, all using different toolkits: Mozilla, Evolution, the Gimp, Konqueror, and so forth... On a typical desktop there are often several used at the same time, creating an inconsistent look and feel and a lack of integration resulting in a less than stellar desktop experience. This mish-mash of application styles ''hurts users''! | ||
Revision as of 18:30, 7 April 2005
Contents
Introduction
The goal of the Tango Desktop Project is to create a consistent user experience for Open Source software.
The free desktop is made of many different toolkits
Several popular applications now exist, all using different toolkits: Mozilla, Evolution, the Gimp, Konqueror, and so forth... On a typical desktop there are often several used at the same time, creating an inconsistent look and feel and a lack of integration resulting in a less than stellar desktop experience. This mish-mash of application styles hurts users!
Now is the time to define a common visual style
The Tango Desktop Project group is comprised of free desktop engineers, artists, and user interaction designers. We want you to join our effort to create a native Linux look and feel.
Who should participate? Well, everyone.
Contribute to the guidelines, improve applications by making them follow the specs, design artwork, and spread the word.
Interested contributors from Gnome, KDE, and other free and open source projects are all welcome. We invite anyone working on software to follow the specifications defined here, as well as on FreeDesktop.org.
Building Blocks
The Look
- Tango Icon Library - a joint effort by the best artists in the free software community
- Widgets and the Window Manager - visual ideas of where the application look is headed
Standards
- Standard Icon Naming Specification - a consistent way to name icons for use with any app on every desktop
- Cross Desktop Theming - bridging the desktop look and feel gap
Guidelines
- Humane Interface Guidelines - a simple and easy-to-use reference guide for creating usable applications, based on both the GNOME and KDE HIGs
- Generic Icon Theme Guidelines - how to design icons to match the Tango style
Methods
- Heuristic Evaluation - good design principles which every icon, application, and desktop component should be measured with to ensure acceptable quality
- Usability Testing - user feedback ensures great design decisions... this section has a focus on what part usability testing plays in the Free Software community, and why it's good thing to do
Miscellanea
- Licensing - a base goal of this project is to enrich the world of Free Software by ensuring that our efforts are licensed as freely as possible. A proposed licensing scheme for tango is discussed with this section.
- PlayGround for testing wiki stuff.
