Sprints/UX2011

Purpose

• To provide an opportunity for unbridled creativity and hacking on new and old KDE UX problems.
• The goal is to produce 3-4 design specifications and prototypes of new interaction and interface concepts that could be integrated into KDE.

Date & Location

• Date: 3-4 days in Spring 2011
• Location: to be determined
• Lodging: to be determined

Topics

Each participant is expected to come to the sprint with at least once idea they would like to explore. The idea can be all but a twinkle in your eye, or a series of hard requirements. You will be able to present your idea in a group discussion. We will choose several topics to explore in more detail, eventually leading to actionable design specifications and prototype code.

• Integration of webservices in a useful way: We have apps that are desktop portals to data on Facebook and Flickr, but we don't do anything interesting with it. To remain relevant we have to use the web, not just interface with it. Why can't we connect to Facebook as a calendar resource, or add Flickr as a seamless image location in Digikam and Gwenview?

• Keeping up with current trends: We need to consider next-generation toolbars, menus, and windowing. Browsers have been slowly evolving to optimize toolbars and tabs in the interface, but other apps remain archaic. Microsoft has worked out kinks in its "ribbon" toolbar design in the next generation of productivity apps. We've had very interesting proposals for flexible UIs and alternative menu designs. Why don't we take a serious look at proposals like this to see if they are the future?

Activities

Activities include brainstorming, designing, prototyping, and architecture:

• Brainstorming: I've provided a sample list of topics we could discuss. What else could we do? How would we do it?
• Designing: What are possible ways we can provide new ways to interact with and experience KDE?
• Prototyping: Let's see these ideas in action and code out some of these problems. What would our ideas look and feel like in KDE?
• Architecture: What new technology needs are there to support our ideas? Do we need widgets? Libraries? Or just a standardized way of doing things?

Participants

Please list your name and possible dates for now. Estimated travel costs will be collected when a location is determined.

• Celeste Lyn Paul -- March (except week of conf.kde.in) or April, over a long weekend
• Aurélien Gâteau -- March or April (except first week)
• Cyrille Berger -- March or April (except the week-end with the Calligra sprint, date unknown)
• Casper Boemann -- March or April (except the week-end with the Calligra sprint, date unknown)

Deliverables

Design

• Add link to design mockups or specifications

Code

• Add link to code archive

Blog and News Articles

• Add link to blog article