Ubuntu Wiki

Criteria for assessing completeness of application porting to Ubuntu Mobile.

• Hildonization
• UI works at 800x480
• UI works for finger touch (no small buttons)
• Set up for translation
• Consistent with theme and icon framework
• Applications load + save data automatically - user doesn't have to remember to save data
• Implements Hildon Accessibilty Library
• Documented
• Tested
• Filesystem is hidden from the user. Users should never need to know a filename, they should only interact with data + metadata (thumbnails for the image viewer, song/artist name for music, from/to/subject headers in email, etc).
  • - This means no traditional open/save dialogs - "Attach file" dialogs need to present a friendly list of objects to attach (thumbnails or metadata) - If the user has to be presented a list of files, the list must only include relevant files. Things like /usr and .xyz files must always be excluded.
• # of configuration options is minimized. Applications should come preconfigured with intelligent defaults. Options should only be included if they're easily understood by the computer-phobic or if they're likely to be useful to a large minority of users.
• # Featureset should be minimized. Applications like Claws have dozens of menu items, most of which aren't useful to our target market.
• # of dialogs is minimized
• All screens and dialogs must fit onscreen (800x480)
• All screens and dialogs must render properly (no overlapping widgets, no text spilling out of buttons, no text offscreen, no popup menus that aren't wide enough to read the content of the menu, etc).
• Dialogs must be positioned centered and fully onscreen. The user should never have to move a dialog to see its contents
• Applications with multiple screens (such as a tabbed browser) must present an easy + obvious way to navigate between screens.
• Applications run as a singleton (can't have multiple copies of the app running)
• Instant feedback - Any interaction with the UI results in visual/audio feedback within 200ms, which is the upper limit of what's necessary for the appearance of 'instant'. For a tactile device like a MID, it's important that widgets act like physical objects. Delayed reactions remind the user that they're on a computer.
• Applications shouldn't require a mouse cursor for functionality. This means hovering + tooltips are out.
• Applications shouldn't require right-clicking for any significant functionality - right-clicking is awkward if the user is holding the device in one hand and using their other hand to navigate (I'd like to see right-click abolished entirely).
• Error messages should suggest a course of action to the user.
• Applications gracefully handle out-of-memory and disk full conditions. Gracefully = no crashing, freezing, or losing data.