Re: GWP and 'the foot'

[sungod <as387 yfn ysu edu>]

Braden N. McDaniel wrote:
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: J. Patrick Narkinsky [mailto:patrick@narkinsky.ml.org]
> > Sent: Saturday, October 31, 1998 12:53 AM
> > To: gnome-list@gnome.org
> > Cc: gnome-gui-list@gnome.org
> > Subject: GWP and 'the foot'
> >
> >
> > I just had the opportunity to check out the latest sources for GWP from
> > CVS -- first off, for those of you who haven't taken a look lately, do so.
> > These guys have been coding like crazy.
> >
> > One thing that they did which I REALLY like is they put a Macintosh-like
> > 'gnome foot' icon on the left-most side of their menubar with some common
> > utility functions under it.
> >
> > For example, this menu in GWP has:
> >       About...
> >       Preferences...
> >       ----
> >       Quit
> >
> > I REALLY like this as an UI idea.
> 
> So do I, but might it be better to use the application icon rather than the
> G?

i thought so too when i first wrote this proposal
(http://www.gnome.org/mailing-lists/archives/gnome-gui-list/1998-June/0053.html)
but several good arguments were subsequently presented against this idea
and i think my personal preference is the gnome foot, now, too. note
that of all the arguments and flaming that took place on this topic, no
actual research was ever submitted, so if you can do some or know any
that's been done, please let us know so we can make a good decision on
this.

> >  First, it clears up a lot of the
> > ambiguity about what to do with the "File" menu in applications where it
> > is not appropriate (e.g. games).
> 
> Cooper makes a good point on this issue in _The Essentials of User Interface
> Design_. "File" is awfully generic. In fact, the notion of a "file" is
> really an implementation thing. For most applications (a notable exception
> being a file manager), one could think of a more appropriate name for the
> menu generally dubbed "File". In a word processor, for example, "Document"
> would be more appropriate.

i agree, but don't feel particularly strong about this any more. this
too was pretty well flamed into the ground, but again, no real research
was done. check out the archives for some of the comments that were made
(and please pardon my behavior when the conversation degraded to ad
hominem attacks), and again, if you have further insights, please let us
know so we can make a good decision on this, too. can you give us a
quote from this "cooper" fellow, if he's actually done research on it?

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