Re: MOCKUP: Additional overlays

[Ross Smith <myxiplx googlemail com>]

While it looks very neat, and I like the concept, I'm not sure
pluggable overlays is a good idea - it's making the overlay more like
a program than a shell, and I can see it adding too much complexity.

I'm also a big fan of the breadcrumbs idea, and your idea for multiple
overlay menus would clash with that.

However, I think the 'people' overlay is an idea worth exploring, and
the mockup is really nice, and definitely something I would use.  I've
seen other mockups where the instant messaging status is integrated to
the right hand side of the main panel, and I wonder if an overlay like
this could become the default action for the right hand side?

I've not got the time to create a mockup, so I'll try to describe what
I'm thinking:

Could we do a two part overlay that launches from a button on the
right hand side of the panel (where gnome currently shows name and IM
status)?  That would then open the second gnome-shell overlay, but
this time focusing on instant messaging and powering off the computer.

On the right would be a simple menu, for changing IM status, and with
power options at the bottom.  Then you would have a dividing line
separating the menu from the left hand side of the screen, which could
be used to display a 'people' overlay like the one you created.

Ross

PS.  While I'm still not sure they're a good idea, if you wanted to
add pluggable overlays, you might be able to add them to that area on
the left, activating them from this menu.



On Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 7:12 AM, Matthew
Wardrop<mister wardrop gmail com> wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> I spent some time making a mockup for how *I* would like to see GNOME
> Shell develop. Of course, I understand that there are probably many who
> see differently, and that my design may even violate some GNOME design
> principles; or even many... But nevertheless, I wanted to make my
> suggestions; lest I regret not doing so later.
>
> My idea is that GNOME Shell can have a separate People tab (I realise
> now that there are mockups for this already, but mine is slightly
> different). I go on to further suggest that perhaps GNOME Shell could
> even be extensible by making plugins able to make new overlays (such as
> RSS feed readers, etc). In doing so, common tasks can be made much
> simpler.
>
> My mockup can be seen here:
> http://live.gnome.org/GnomeShell/DesignerPlayground/PeopleOverlay
>
> Thoughts, objections, ideas?
>
> Kind Regards,
> Matthew
>
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