Re: [Usability] Re: Move to Workspace (Right | Left) Proposal

[Kirk Bridger <kbridger shaw ca>]

The idea of showing the thumbnails for the workspaces is a good one.
And I would suggest that a fisheye cursor over the thumbnails might be
something that would work well.  I don't have the skills to create a
mockup, but essentially the thumbnails can remain quite small and as the
cursor moves over or near the thumbnail it grows in size.  So the
largest thumbnail is always below the cursor.

It could be similar to the many panel bars with icons that zoom as the
cursor nears.

This way the user does not have to squint at small thumbnails to
determine what each one holds, but many more thumbnails can be shown.

Just a thought - I think it would handle the many-workspace problem but
it would need to be tested.  The effect could perhaps be very
disorienting when actually implemented.

Kirk



On Wed, 2004-11-10 at 11:19 -0600, David Zulaica wrote:
> >
> >Could I get your opinion on:
> >
> >	http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi\?id=145281
> >
> >I think this a nice compromise that settles current issues, until we
> >come up with some more advanced system (like dynamically growing /
> >shrinking workspaces) in the more distant future.
> >
> 
> it's a good compromise, at a glance, but i think it needs to be an 
> option. this solution works fine for a minimal number of workspaces, 
> but once you get beyond 6, it becomes cumbersome. also keep in mind, 
> users that have a large number of workspaces generally name them 
> appropriately. 
> 
> one of the nice things about this solution is that there is no need 
> for the move right/left context menu items. (this actually brings up 
> another thought: using the words "left" and "right" aren't always 
> "correct"; it all depends on the nubmer of rows and the orientation 
> of the workspace switcher.) the size of the workspaces in this 
> context-menu switcher also doesn't depend on the size/layout of the 
> workspace switcher in the panel, which could increase visibility.
> 
> another benefit of this solution, that i see, is in "training" the 
> user; drag and drop into the workspace switcher is a very simple 
> solution. this will become more apparent with the advent of a 
> dynamic workspace switcher. 
> 
> suppose the dynamic workspace switcher works like this: there are 
> four workspaces in my panel. i fill the first three. upon dragging 
> and dropping another application into the fourth workspace, a 
> fifth one is dynamically generated. when i clear out any one of 
> those, the dynamically generated workspace disappears. another way 
> to generate a workspace would be to select the "magic" workspace 
> and just begin working in it.
> 
> i'm sure there's plenty of thoughts on the subject and perhaps 
> i've touched some of them. sorry if i've brought up any dead horses. 
> there's no need to beat them. ;)
> 
> david
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