Message
Why Message and Audience?
The design of every part of the presentation, including the theme, conveys a message even if you don't care about it. That would be to take a risk instead of an opportunity. If you do care about the message, you have to think about the recipient. You don't talk to a 12 year old girl the same as you do to a 61 year old man.
If you work on art without a documented audience, you are still very likely to make a number of assumptions regarding your recipients. Such hidden assumptions are detrimental to cooperation on artwork.
The target audience for artwork doesn't need to be identical to the entire audience for Ubuntu as such. You can't please everyone. One person's exciting is another's over-the-top. One person's elegant is another's boring. Aiming at a limited circle of people makes it a lot easier to please at least them and avoids bland, at best mediocre results.
Defining a main audience, even specifically for artwork, is likely to raise complaints about excluding people. But the attempt to target everyone implies an audience of just average people. No single person is average, though.
Audience
Who not to design for?
- Enthusiasts and satisfied current users who will stay with Ubuntu, anyway.
- People who will change the Appearance in any case and repeatedly, for they have a desire to customize. So we should not fear to appear boring to them.
- Mark Shuttleworth. It is his project and his approval is required if we want to get things shipped as default. But he's just too extraordinary to represent any larger audience. Even to see him as client is problematic, because there's almost no communication regarding the presentation. If there were, his input could still be in conflict with our findings and assumptions. Designing without a client should be to our advantage.
Who to design for?
While the age range of current and potential users might reach quite far in both directions, we assume a peak somewhere between 20 and 35.
One could ask: Who is Ubuntu good for? Who will benefit from its key characteristics the most? Here there is a risk to end up in a loop, though. So we prefer to ask:
Who do we want to attract next?
Trendsetters who will lead others to follow. People who are visible in their computer use. Those who have interesting capabilities to add to our community. Those who have the glamour we would like for Ubuntu itself. Young web-savvy professionals.
People like that will often be accustomed to proprietary software, some without good free alternatives. But with the available free software, we can offer the following benefits:
- no license cost. For some professionals, these costs are negligible. But for students and newcomers and in countries with a weak economy, this can be a big issue.
- no license tracking required. Need another copy of the software? No problem!
- no copy protection, no dongles: no hassle!
- lower risk of lock-in. No closed file formats.
- sharing and collaboration are made easy, as virtually anyone can get a copy of the used software.
- the possibility to get involved in free software projects.
The overarching theme here is freedom in a very pragmatic sense. no chains, but also no pretentious kitsch!
We should show that artists and designers are involved to lead the way for others to follow.
How to handle cultural differences around the world
Avoid to be culture specific as far as possible. Accept a western-centric bias. Leave it to spin-offs to happen where the need and ability collide.
Get experts aboard for each major cultural region, if possible.
The Message
The message is not restricted to what anyone thinks of Ubuntu now, but is entirely about how it should be seen in the future.
Impression on sight, not necessarily using it. Ubuntu is:
- distinct from other offerings. That means there has to be something about the design that you do not find elsewhere.
- a viable alternative of professional quality. Stand out not like a clown, but like a champion.
- is desirable. Something between chocolate and a sports car.
On use, trust must be established. Ubuntu is:
- trustworthy
- straightforward
- forgiving
Extended Message. Ubuntu is
- friendly and welcoming
- based on cooperation and sharing
- global
- about software freedom
Prejudices we have to fight
- Linux is overly complicated and only for nerds.
- If it's free it has to be inferior. Free of charge should only be an implied part of the message, bound to the sharing and community angle, because things that do not cost money are often not valued and thought to be inferior.
- It's just a bad clone of Windows/OSX.
Beneficial associations
- Letterpress printing (cultural achievement, infrastructure, sharing of knowledge)
- Scientific process
- Teamwork
- International community
Those who might think negative about any of the above are quite likely to not be sympathetic towards Ubuntu, anyway.