Re: [Usability]Notification Area guidelines

[Sean Middleditch <elanthis awesomeplay com>]

On Fri, 2003-03-14 at 06:46, textshell neutronstar dyndns org wrote:
> On Fri, Mar 14, 2003 at 12:28:03PM +1100, Jeff Waugh wrote:
> > <quote who="Robert McMeekin">
> > 
> > > In just about every scenario mentioned in this thread, the notification
> > > area is not a useful `feature' in that it's use overlaps with what applets
> > > are already doing.
> > 
> > That's entirely correct -> the point is that the notification area serves
> > certain functions with a far, far better user interface than applets.
> > 
> 
> Could you give a few examples where (and why) notify-icons give a far 
> better user interface, execpt for things that really only appear if a 
> application is running?

They spread all over the panel when created, and if your panel resizes
or has applets pushed around, the notification icons stay grouped
together.  It's also consistant, since this way all notification icon
appear in the notification area, which is a lot easier for users than to
try to grasp that some icon are in the area, and others are floating
independently on the panel, etc.

> 
> I agree that a application, that tries to add a applet if started and 
> remove it on exit, is an evil hack. So an eMail application that displays 
> and icon if running and a message has arrived is an good use for this.
> 
> But I'd be interested in advantages of the usage of notify-icon for 
> system-monitor (exept for addictional alarms), randr (resulution changing) 
> and similar things that just feel like an ideal use for applets.

I don't apparantly agree with most people here, but applets imo are evil
UI hacks.  For development/hacker stuff, sure, applets are fine, but for
users, you're just adding another concept that doesn't even need to be
there.  If it can be used as a notification icon and works as a
notification icon and is in the spirit of notification icons, make it a
notification icon.

Additionally, a lot of "always there" icons the user might not
necesarily want to always be there, or can't always be there.  What if
the user logs in on several different machines with an NFS mounted home
dir, and some of those machines have randr and some don't - that icon
should only appear when the extension is available.  Doing this with an
applet is sketchy at best, and a warty UI pain in the ass at worst.

> 
> 
> Maybe we just see some of the more quick shot ideas and are scared by 
> them?
> 
> Martin H.
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