GoKawiilUX designer Scott Jenson urges KDE developers at Akademy 2026 to rethink desktop UI beyond WIMP
At KDE's Akademy 2026 conference, former Apple and Google UX designer Scott Jenson called on open-source developers to experiment with desktop interfaces beyond the decades-old windows, icons, menus and pointer model. Jenson, who now works with Mastodon and Home Assistant, said he left Google over cultural changes there and now tries to bring better UX practices to open-source projects despite their limited staffing.
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Jenson's push suggests open-source desktop environments may be lagging behind proprietary platforms in interface innovation, partly because volunteer-driven projects often lack dedicated design resources. His earlier similar talk at an Ubuntu conference reportedly drew over half a million YouTube views, which could indicate growing community interest in rethinking desktop UX conventions.
- Scott Jenson, a veteran UX designer from Apple and Google, spoke at KDE's Akademy 2026 conference.
- He urged open-source developers to move beyond the traditional WIMP desktop interface model.
- He noted his prior similar talk at an Ubuntu conference drew significant online attention, suggesting interest in the topic.
Source: lwn.net, 2026-09-24
Published there as: “Ideas on modernizing the open-source desktop”
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