20.03.2012
Unity Usability Problems: Hidden Global Menu
von mks.
Since version 11.10 Ubuntu has a feature called Global Menu. This means, that window menus don’t appear in the window itself anymore but on the very top of the screen in the so called panel. Have a look at the video to see it in action:
I have the impression that Ubuntu’s UX designers are trying to mimic Mac OS X here. However, there are several problems with the solution they came up with. The Mac shares some of them, but some are specific to Unity.
The Global Menu wants to give more vertical screen real-estate to the running applications by having only one menu bar taking up space for all windows together. On netbooks this may be a usefull thing, but on computers with HD everywhere nowadays this actually makes usability worse. The Global Menu makes you “travel” large distances with the mouse from the window to the upper border, which can contribute to repetive strain injury.
Another problem is that the menus are not visually connected to the window or application they belong to. For first time users it can be hard to grasp that the menu even belongs to the window or application that is currently in focus. On first sight it looks as if the menu contains global functions. OS X and Ubuntu both try to fix this problem by showing the name of the application at the left most position.
However, Ubuntu has another big usability issue adding to the previous point. It hides the menu and only shows it when the user hovers over it with the mouse. First time users will probably have a *very* hard time even finding the menu at all. In my opinion this is the biggest glitch of them, because you can’t find the menu, without knowing that it is there in the first place and moving the mouse up there. I think this is called a vicious cycle.
To make things worse, I don’t even see *any* reason why one would hide the menu, as there is oviously enough space to display it all the time.
29.04.2012
13:41
Nat ¶
You are so right mate. I find it quite depressing that this is such an obvious usability flaw, but they are persisting with it, presumably on the basis that they think it is is ‘cool’ or something. I have worked as a web developer for about 12 years now, and have noticed how much designers have improved in this area. Usability is now taken much more seriously as they have started to realise that users haven’t got time for their bullshit ‘design’ getting in the way of what they actually want to do. In good GUI design, form always follows function. It is a shame that the Unity designers haven’t read the beginners books on this subject.
29.04.2012
14:21
mks ¶
Nat, I have one or two articles more in the pipe on that topic, but haven’t got around writing them yet. You should check back from time to time. ;)
Also, I think of it not so much as a shame but a real pity, because I find Unity really comfy to work with in other areas. I couldn’t update my parents to the new releases, because they would probably not find the menus, at least not before hell freezes over. :)
07.05.2012
15:14
Marcus ¶
I could list problems with the global menu bar for hours…
- The disconnection from the window you are operating on.
- The time it takes to travel back to the app after performing some menu action.
- The confusing interface when you have a maximized window *behind* a non-maximized window: the menu bar looks like part of the background window but it is not; unless you double click on some empty space (triggering the unmaximize function), when it does act on the background window! They tried to make it look a little better with some strategically placed shadow that makes it clear that the menu bar is not part of the background app, but the double-click behavior is inconsistent.
- Some Nautilus windows open up without focus (sometimes even maximized without focus), and the menu bar shown is from the previous app. Even the close button (gasp!) is from the previous app!
I configured Unity without global menu bars (it’s not bad at all with this fix in place), but when I hit the close button problem, I gave up and went somewhere else (KDE currently).
13.05.2012
20:43
Kai Mast ¶
When u start an application for the first time the global menu is visible and then fades out.
This should make it clear for the user that the global menu is there.
Having a big screen I, however, understand your critisism. Hopefully, they’ll add a switch to disable the global menu in the future.
26.06.2012
12:21
mks ¶
I am aware of the short fade-in of the menu since 12.04. However, I think that users can easily miss this, especially on big screens. The reason being when you start an application, you are must likely focused on the window popping up and *not* on some corner of the screen. The fade-in actually improves the situation a little bit, but it is just another try at fixing something that doesn’t need to be broken in the first place.
29.01.2013
02:04
Anonymous ¶
100% dead on, hiding the global menu until you mouse over it is a usability nightmare. Seriously dense whoever thought that one up, and the fact that it has persisted shows a lack of leadership on the Ubuntu UI team.