Projects/Usability/HIG/Notifications

Purpose

A notification is an information that is not directly relevant to the user's current task. It is displayed via a certain notification mechanism on a panel above/below the taskbar notification area. Notifications inform users about non-critical problems, but they don't prevent them.

Notifications pop up and overlay all other windows. Multiple notifications are stacked vertically. Notifications disappear after a short period automatically (unless the cursor hovers over them), but can be closed by the user at any point. Each notification has its own central configuration which can be reached by a button next to the close button.

Examples

(remark: pictures only?)

Positive

• Email received
• New update available
• Download completed
• Low battery power

todo: picture

Negative

• Low space on medium (this information becomes relevant for file managers and invoked as modal message in this case)

todo: picture

Guidelines

• Do not use notifications for user assistance, consider using tool-tips or balloons for short information, or refer to help system for extended text.
• Do not use notifications for context relevant information that might interfere with the actual workflow, consider using a message dialog.
• Do not add controls to notification.
• Do not override system settings.
• Provide title and content text.
• Make sure to make the origin of the notification clear from the notification title. For instance: "Amarok: Now playing" or "Konsole: Event"
• Keep the notification content concise (no more than about three simple sentences).
• Customize notification with the origin's icon.
• Provide actionable information (e.g. "Low battery power" "Only 13 min (2%) capacity remaining. Please save your stuff now. Your system will get shut down soon.")

Code snippets

to be done