Application-based launchers and multiple workspaces

[Daniel Falk <danielfalk22 gmail com>]

When I click the nautilus icon on the dash when there's another nautilus running on another workspace, it switches to that other workspace. This is a useful behavior when this is what you intend to do.

Unfortunately, it can also be jarring and disorienting when it's not.  Has anyone else experienced this?  I wish there were a better way of handling it.  

Normally what I want to do is start up a new window for programs such as nautilus, the terminal, or my web browser if there's no window on the current workspace, otherwise switch to the window on the current workspace. I know you can ctrl-click of course, but you have to decide whether to ctrl-click or just click, and that basically involves determining not only whether it's running, but also whether it's running on the current workspace.  It's just not very efficient to have to pause to make this decision, and wipes out the convenience gained from offering one's favorite icons on the dash in a spatial fashion.

I'm eager to get everybody's thoughts on this problem and whether there's a way to improve this behavior.