Simplify + Standardize OS Buttons

[ninavizz]

Problem
Today's buttons in Qubes OS go against a few standard best-practice* paradigms in UX.

• There should always be a darker "primary" and a lighter "secondary" button
• The "back-arrow" icon is unclear to many users as a return-button. My Lenovo laptop and my Mac, both lack this symbol on any buttons, as an example.
• Icons on buttons as a general rule, are undesirable. They add clutter to a UI which adds cognitive load. While they are often seen as helpful in critical review, in reality there are often too many icons in a user's view; which when the icons are not clearly and obviously evident, and when many have gradients and multiple colors, adds to a user's cognitive burden.
• In a discussion on a different thread from many months ago that I cannot remember, the "x" on the cancel button was expressed by many as desirable; so I included a simpler "x" on the below mockups.

** "Best Practice" ≠ often observed in practice, rather what has tested well among ux professionals and has been shared among our community as things more of us should do more often.

Proposed Solution
The below draws from the Gnome UI library. The mockups below use SegoeUI, but I'd also like to standardize around Source Sans Pro w/in Qubes, eventually; so that'd be preferred.

[GWeck]

The buttons should also be presented in a defined sequence. Currently, sometimes the OK button is on the left side and the Cancel button on the right, somtimes vice versa. Surely this helps to alert the user, but it can also trigger to select the wrong button.

[andrewdavidwong]

Today's buttons in Qubes OS go against a few standard best-practice* paradigms in UX.

I'm going to assume that this is referring to Qubes-specific GUIs (manager/widgets), since non-Qubes-specific GUIs (e.g., Xfce4) are inherited from upstream.

[ninavizz]

Oof... I was hoping this could even go on XFCE managed windows, as those are the default for Qubes.

[ninavizz]

Artwork for the "x" on an aside:

[marmarek]

It is possible to create our own theme for Xfce. I don't know how much work that is and how much flexibility it gives. Take a look at "Appearance" option in settings - there are "Style" and "Icons" tabs. I don't see any of them having different colors for different buttons, so I don't know if that's possible, but there is something to explore.

[andrewdavidwong]

It is possible to create our own theme for Xfce. I don't know how much work that is and how much flexibility it gives. Take a look at "Appearance" option in settings - there are "Style" and "Icons" tabs. I don't see any of them having different colors for different buttons, so I don't know if that's possible, but there is something to explore.

Ah, that's a good point. A long time ago, I customized an Xfce theme for myself, and I vaguely recall seeing a way to customize buttons, but I had (and still have) no idea how to do it. My sense is that the overall framework allows for quite a bit of flexibility, if you know how to use it.

[ninavizz]

Right. I'd like to see Qubes ship with cleaner & more intuitive defaults. I think I discussed this with @marmarta some time ago, and she suggested it could be easy. Marta, could you summarize what you'd had in mind, here?

Of course, world peace could be easy, too... if a few basic caveats could be met by all of humanity. Pride, greed, egos, etc. Small things, really.

[ninavizz]

Adding this as a component to #6414

[ninavizz]

Labeled this issue "Help Wanted," because none of the core Qubes OS team are likely to be able to prioritize this anytime soon, abreast critical project priorities. That said: to me, this feels like an helpful addition to the UI.

The core Qubes team have given their blessing to this UX solution, so should a developer like to take this on pls "@" me here and I'll hop-to gathering final SVG artwork to make this possible.