Usability problems with notification bar

[HFLW <will hflw org>]

Hi,

I've been testing gnome shell lately, I really like the work so far, but
I've noticed some problems with the notification bar.

One of the usability problems I find was that removing multiple
notifications is really bothersome. Let's say I got back from taking a
walk, and I had 5 new ongoing notifications. To remove them from the bar,
I'd have to put my mouse in the corner, move my mouse over to the icon,
right click on it, and hit remove. But then the notification bar closes, so
I have to put my mouse back in the corner, and repeat the process. It would
be nice if the bar's active area was increased temporarily so that it
wouldn't close after I removed the icon, allowing me to take further
action.

The other thing that I don't really like with the current notification bar
is the fact that the icons shift around as you mouse over them. It may save
space, but I think it's a bad idea to have the target area of icons move
around. It becomes a problem when the user overshoots the distance to the
icon and travels into the active area of the neighboring icon, and then has
to travel all the way back to the intended icon in order to preform the
task they wanted. If space is a concern, a fisheye-sort of thing would work
better, since there's less of a penalty for overshooting. Either that, or
the labels could be shown above the icons when moused over. Personally I
think the best solution would be to have them all expanded, and then hide
the labels until mouse-over when low on space, that way the user doesn't
have to mouse over the icon just to find out what it's for, despite the
plentiful availability of space on the bar.

Sorry if my explanations are confusing, I'll be more than happy to
elaborate if necessary. Also, sorry if I'm just being ignorant, feel free
to correct me if I'm off about something.

-- 
Will Riley / HFLW
http://hflw.org/