Interesting Windows Desktop UI Concept (opens in new tab)

I love visual design exercises like this, but it's one thing to throw it out there and a completely separate (10000x harder) feat to actually have this implemented. If you usability test this interface, it's going to fail all over the place. Remember, Windows is probably the only piece of software with EVERY SINGLE segment of users.

http://cdn.robszumski.com/share/file-copy.png The file copy window that's tacked on to the explorer window contains way too much information. A skilled but non-technical user is going to see "164 MB/s" and "72%". Where's the time left? You have to remember, people don't read -- at all, ever.

"Hey user, how do you tell when this is done?" "Funny you mention that, I never have any idea. I know that the percent is there in the squiggly bar, but what does that mean? Each week my podcasts seem to take different amounts of time to copy, but I never really know."

http://cdn.robszumski.com/share/copy-worst-case.png "Sometimes I can't even read the number because the line goes straight through it." Obviously this could be designed in a much better way, but when you look at these perfect screenshots it's impossible to see how it would act. This is where designers make their money for the company.

There are a lot of people in the comments of the article saying the author should be hired by Microsoft. I don't think that's going to happen.

> am I missing something? This strikes me as primarily being a visual design or what some people call a theme.

Looks like it's a little more than a theme, maybe a theme for a shell replacement? Like what desktop modders used to do with LiteStep* back in the day.

Very attractive, I would add -- minimalistic, clean, perhaps a little soulless. I'd use it, though, as others commented, the lack of contrast might get a little taxing in the long run, hard to say.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LiteStep

Agreed. I like this visually, but the title is misleading.

I don't see a new "UI Concept" here.

Yeah, it would be really nice to see some Linux themes inspired more by the core ideas of Metro and less by Apple's software design (which I find lacking).

Also, I can't help thinking that this sort of design is very good for tiling window managers :).

There's a similar theme already called Elegant_brit. It doesn't look exactly same, but there's resemblance.

Also in this concept window manager takes really much screen estate. Even tough it looks great while looking at non-maximized windows, it would start itching really quick when working in day-to-day basis. Also I wonder how concept author would replace lost functionality of menu bar...

Finally, what bugs me most is that scroll bars are a rip-off from Ubuntu-like scroll bars. (I don't say that Ubuntu didn't ripped them off tho.)

I'd be happy with a theme for that as well. Even some Windows theme fiddling could get that to work.

And Skype! half the width is devoted to the contacts list, cramming the actual conversation into as much space as you get on your standard smart-phone. Do they really expect you to be devoting that much time to gazing longingly at your list of contacts, instead of communicating?

Practice copying other's work. If you know the mechanics of Illustrator or Photoshop, challenge yourself to reproduce something you admire (from Dribbble?) pixel for pixel from scratch.

Take a particular area of the screen and without using an eyedropper tool, try to select the exact color of each detailed element yourself from the color picker tool. So for example when you see subtle lines or gradients, how does that color vary from the base color? Is it simply darker? Or does it change hue or saturation?

These exercises will train your eyes to have a good feel for how the colors blend and flow together on screen. With lots of practice, you'll develop your own style and your stuff will stop looking like crap.

Johannes Itten, of the Bauhaus, is the go to guy for colour theory, both these books are fantastic:

The Art of Color: The Subjective Experience and Objective Rationale of Color

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Color-Subjective-Experience-Object...

The Elements of Color: A Treatise on the Color System of Johannes Itten Based on His Book the Art of Color

http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Color-Treatise-System-Johanne...

there's a field of color theory, concepts like compliments, but then tertiary compliments, and several other forms. unobtrusive gets into an overlap of usability concerns, taste, colorblindness, and just overall theme. i'm sure if you just pay attention to a little more and google some you can find answers to what you're looking for. ubuntu has a nifty color theory utility called avage ... and there are sites like color lovers and such.

someone friendly here showed me this website (here example: [1]) as an .. ekhm... "inspiration" for colors for their websites.

Because I suck on simple graphics design (layouts+color matchmaking) I use it too.

Each image has colors it majorly use plus you can pickup your color and see others projects. very cool!

[1] http://dribbble.com/shots/444224-NikeFuel-Active?list=popula...

Play around with a color wheel[1]. There are set ways to choose colors that go well together: for example, you can just use shades of a single color, or you can use a color and its complement for emphasis. I think actually seeing a color wheel and the results is a very visceral way to get a feel for basic color theory.

[1]: http://colorschemedesigner.com/

I also suck at design, so I always find a palette I like on colourlovers.com and it works good.

I highly suggest taking a few basic color theory, or just design 101 classes, at your local community college or art school. It's cheap, and it'll cover the basics, which is really all you need to get started on learning the rest yourself!

Go to study older maps, the best place to learn about subtlety in colors.

Google is "wanting to move away from explicit box structures and to use type and spacing more to indicate structure."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGIU2JX1U5Y

It's all just a play on the Zune desktop software. http://i.minus.com/iDQRFmra9Ayqs.PNG

its interesting to see how we going back to basics. from windows 3.11 where there was like 256 colors through windows 95/XP more blurry, shadows, rounded stuff, through new windows design that just look "cleaner" and uses better matched color palette, but not much different from initials.

Oh no... I hate the small tabs on top of Windows. By making them variable size, you always had to hunt the functions on the right part of the tab.

But I agree it was beautiful. Back then I made a BeOS theme for my Windows NT 4 box.

Much of the zune visuals live on in the xbox and windows 8 as well. WhileMS had some terrible design in the past they seem to be entering a new phase where design is at the forefront.

It's not killed, it's called Windows Phone 7 now.