[Trac #692] Shutdown notification

Zarro Boogs per Child bugtracker at laptop.org
Wed Jan 10 13:06:15 EST 2007


#692: Shutdown notification
------------------------------+---------------------------------------------
 Reporter:  marco             |        Owner:  Eben   
     Type:  defect            |       Status:  closed 
 Priority:  normal            |    Milestone:  BTest-3
Component:  interface-design  |   Resolution:  fixed  
 Keywords:                    |  
------------------------------+---------------------------------------------
Changes (by Eben):

  * status:  new => closed
  * resolution:  => fixed

Comment:

 Here is a basic spec for both startup and shutdown.  They follow the same
 visual style used to indicate inactive vs. active activities/objects
 within the rest of the interface, for consistency.

 '''Startup:'''  We want to avoid the slideshow effect that we see now.
 Instead, we're going to create a seamless transition between the startup
 screen and the home screen by way of the visual cues that will exist
 throughout the interface.  The first image that appears should be a gray
 background (the same as the home screen), and a large XO icon centered
 within it.  The XO should match the size and the position of the home
 screen XO.  To indicate that the laptop isn't active yet, the XO will be
 rendered as inactive, as a white stroke with no fill.  When we have the
 opportunity to add an animation to indicate boot activity, we can use the
 same pulsing of the colors that will also indicate activity startup.  Once
 boot completes, the XO will become full color, and the activity ring will
 appear around it.

 The point at which the cursor appears is arbitrary.  It doesn't serve any
 purpose until the ring appears, but at the same time it provides feedback
 for interaction with the system before there is anything else on screen,
 and while a moving cursor isn't exactly fun to play with, it could be
 positive reinforcement that the machine is working fine during boot.

 '''Shutdown:'''  Here, we really just want to continue the metaphor by
 showing the above in reverse.  This of course means that we need to
 transition to the home screen before shutdown.  This makes sense anyway,
 since the processes for any open activities will need to be terminated
 anyway, and visually representing this is straightforward from Home, where
 the shutdown process can be seen step by step as each activity turns to
 outline and disappears from the ring.  Once all activities have left the
 ring, the ring itself will disappear and the XO will fade to an outline.
 For clarification, we won't use pulsing color here.  That will be reserved
 for startup. It should simply fade immediately to an outline and remain
 there until the screen goes dark.

 Once a shutdown has been initiated, we really don't want any more user
 interaction.  On a traditional machine, a user may be prompted by various
 applications which may have unsaved documents, or be connected to a
 network, etc, thus requiring a cursor until they have all quit.  We can
 just create a new journal entry automatically, so the saving problem is
 solved, and I don't really think any other issues should be large enough
 to interrupt a hard shutdown.  As such, I think we should remove the
 cursor once we are at the Home screen.  If this isn't liked by all, we
 could also keep it around until the ring disappears, but beyond that it
 should not be present.

-- 
Ticket URL: <http://dev.laptop.org/ticket/692#comment:6>
One Laptop Per Child <http://laptop.org/>



More information about the Bugs mailing list