Projects/Usability/HIG/Notifications

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    Revision as of 13:43, 27 November 2013 by Htietze (talk | contribs)


    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.

    Examples

    Guidelines

    Is this the right control

    • Use a notification to inform about a non-critical problem that is not directly relevant to the user's current task.
    • Do not use notifications for user assistance (consider to use tool-tips 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 to use a message dialog).

    Behavior

    • Notifications disappear after a short period automatically (unless the cursor hovers over them), but can be closed by the user at any point.
    • Stack multiple notifications vertically.
    • Provide access to the configuration for each notification per button next to the close button.

    Appearance

    • 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).
    • Provide actionable information (e.g. "Low battery power: Approximately 13 min (2%) capacity remaining.").

    Implementation