OpenOffice.org Dashboard Concept

The Welcome Screen introduced in OOo 3.0 can be extended to provide lots of important user functionality. At the same time, it can be designed and architected in a modular way that will make OOo feel much more "web2.0" and modern to our users. I propose renaming it the "OpenOffice.org Dashboard" to indicate how much it has been expanded.

I have developed the mockup shown below with the following design goals in mind:

1. Feels more like a web browser, which everyone is comfortable with, making adoption of OOo seem easier for new users.
2. Local and web search: get from Google. Get paid for it, like Firefox does.
3. Tabs are not 100% required for this Dashboard, but without them it would be more difficult to return to a persistent Dashboard (we could put a button in a toolbar, of course). But, we need tabs anyway.
   1. It would be fine to launch the Dashboard as an OOo Extension without building tabs into OOo. Then we'd need a link in a toolbar and from a menu for persistent Dashboard access.
4. The central area of the page lets users add their own Google Gadgets, as Spicebird (http://www.spicebird.com/content/google-applets-spicebird) has pioneered. We should preload several good ones, such as Google Chat, a calendar and a news feed or two (including one pointing to our major news announcements).
   1. It should be possible to write OOo extensions that place new widgets in the central area, too. Or make it even simpler, for users to add new widgets themselves.
5. Inspired by Google Chrome and Spicebird, KDE's social desktop ideas, and the iTunes Music Store page layout.

Earlier Design Mockups

December 2008 First Draft