Problem: Even thought Gnome Shell is described as next generation desktop shell, and yes it looks quite modern with the overview and dynamic workspaces and the dash, still i consider that something is missing. The top bar resembles the one from Android but cleaner. The Dash is nice, but it is placed in the same place as the Dock from Unity, lacking features. Overview (one of my favorite features) is the same as the Expose/Mission Control in Mac OS. And the application layout...the same story we have in launchpad in mac, or any other devices from Apple or powered by Android. For untrained eye, all this looks familiar "Hey, i've seen it somewhere". And they expect the system to behave the same way as the other system but is not. So issue here is much deeper. 

Solution: Not just copy what is the best from others, but also innovate with some killer features different from others. Once you will open Gnome...you will say "Yes, it's Gnome"..like no others. This will make the product easy recognizable and have a self identity. 

PS: I'm not sure if this is the right place to write about this. Maybe it should be discussed on Gnome Live.