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[Nautilus-list] long, but hopefully useful

I originally sent this to the wrong address, here it is for real =)
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Greetings,

I am a student at Georgia Tech studying computer science, and specializing
in human computer interaction (HCI), and cognative science. I am a long
time linux user, and debian user, and I thought that I would contribute some
suggestions to the group for evaluation.  These are suggestions developed
from what I know about HCI, cognative science, and from my everday use of
computers.

First, I would like to discuss a common problem found in file managers
today: their lack of visual signals.  Visual signals are an important part
of any user interface, and allow the user to know that he or she has
performed some action, and give them an idea of what they have done. 
Nautilus lacks a bit in this area, as I believe most file managers do.
Here are some ideas that may seem a bit out there at first, but try and
imagine a person who has never used a file manager before, let alone a
computer.

	* When files are dragged and dropped into a folder to perform a
	  "move" operation, Nautilus simply allows the dragged file to
	  disappear into nothingness, which may confuse the user.  Here
	  are some visual signals that could be placed into Nautilus to
	  clarify the situation for the user:
		  
		- The folder could slightly open (animated, or not), and
		  the dropped file could either slide or fall into the
		  open folder and then the folder could close again.
		  
	  	- The folder could simply begin to "bulge" as more and
		  more files or folders are moved into it, in a similar
		  way to the very well designed Trash interface in
		  Nautilus.
	
	* When files are dragged and dropped into a folder to perform a
	  "copy" operation, Nautilus has a similar effect to the move
	  operation. More visual signals are necessary to make it clear to
	  the user that the files were in fact *copied* and not moved.
	  Here are some metaphors that may make it more clear to the user
	  what happened:
	  
	  	- Xerox copies: A bright-sliding light could shine over
				the icon; similar to when a real photocopy
				is made.  This clearly indicates that a 
				*copy* has been made.
				
		- Polariod    : A "flash" could go off over the file's
				icon, and the resulting copied file could
				slide out like in a polaroid camera.
	
Secondly, I would like to discuss another common breakdown in the
file/folder metaphor.  There is much functionality in the *real* world
with files and filing cabinets that might be useful to propogate into 
Nautilus.  Here are some ideas:

	* With real filing cabinets, each drawer can have a lot of information
	  posted on the front of it, and the same is the case with each 
	  folder. Most file cabinets and folders that I have used have
	  descriptions, or notes on the front to designate categories or
	  contents, etc. This could be applied to Nautilus in several
	  ways.
	  
	  	- The "notes" sidebar concept could be extended so that 
		  the information in the notes could appear in a tooltip 
		  over each icon that contains notes (after a few seconds
		  of course). This way a user can just mouse-over a folder
		  to see a brief description or note about the contents.
		  For example, a user could place a note on a folder
		  called "docs_to_send", and see a more useful description
		  popup in a large tooltip like box that may state: "Don't
		  forget to email these documents to Jim and Sally!", or 
		  something along those lines. These tooltip-like popups
		  should be editable, and configurable, so that they may
		  contain category information, or even thumbnail images.
		  
		- All of my filing cabinets are categorized very nicely.
		  Some I have seen are also color-coded. This is an aspect 
		  of the old Macintosh Finder that I loved (back in System 7 
		  I believe). I think that this feature could be ripped
		  directly off the Mac, to allow descriptive categories tied 
	 	  to folder/icon tints/highlights.  It could also be
		  integrated with the above tooltip idea to allow for the
		  category to be quickly seen in words, and changed with a
		  simple dropdown widget of some kind (I believe a widget
		  that would do well is already in gal and is used in
		  evolution).

Next, I would like to discuss some ideas that have come to me after using
some other programs and computer systems over the years.

	* A common use of file managers is to place links or launchers on
	  the desktop. GMC supported this feature through the standard
	  ".desktop" files as defined by the open desktop website.  As far
	  as I know, Nautilus currently only supports "links" on the desktop 
	  in a very simplistic way of making symbolic links (this is a guess,
	  correct me if I am wrong).  The result of this is twofold. First,
	  Nautilus becomes incompatible with a standard, and difficult to
	  migrate to from GMC.  Secondly, it causes the resulting desktop
	  links to have annoying extra information shown, such as the size
	  of the linked binary or script, its permissions, and possibly an
	  emblem that shows the file as non-writable.  This should be a
	  priority to support in a standard way for 1.0, or even PR3. The
	  best way to attract users is not to alienate what they are 
	  accustomed to or to make their transition more difficult.

Finally, I would like to say that I think Nautilus is definately
attempting to boldly go where no UI has gone before, and I have some other
ideas that I think might be integrated, post-1.0.

	* A few semesters ago I took a class on object oriented design in
	  a smalltalk derivative language known as Squeak. Now, squeak is
	  pretty strange, and I am not attempting to say that we should
	  use it in any way with GNOME, but a lot of UI research is done
	  all over the world in Squeak, and I thought that this may be
	  something useful. Here is an idea that I really think would be
	  cool, easy to understand, and useful:
	  
	  	- Squeak has something known as "flaps".  Flaps are 
		  essentially small named tabs on the edges of the screen
		  that can be created at will, and contain any number of
		  cool things. They can be configured to be dragged out of
		  the edges of the screen, or to pop open when moused over. 
		  I think that it would be useful if Nautilus had flaps
		  that could represent an idea similar to Microsoft's "My
		  Documents" folder... only to a much higher level.  You
		  could have a "My Documents" flap that could contain recently
		  saved and unfiled documents. You could also have a flap that
		  could contain "My Images", with small thumbnails, and
		  categories. Another flap could be "My Music" and could
		  contain a small playlist organizer and MP3 frontend and
		  links to plugins, etc.  Flaps are a really cool idea that
		  could be finally put into the mainstream by Nautilus. I would
		  like to hear what other people have to think about this idea.
		  
		- Another idea from Squeak is the concept of "halos", which are
		  small colored dots that appear around files when moused over,
		  and can represent actions or be used in control. I don't have
		  any specific ideas for Nautilus, but I imagine that they may
		  be useful in a file manager or desktop shell.
		  
		- Just for reference information, you can take a look at Squeak
		  at http://www.squeak.org if you are interested in looking at
		  what halos or flaps look like.
		  
Thats all I have.  Sorry for the long email, but I haven't had time until
now to share all these ideas with you. I really hope that they are useful,
and maybe when I get some more time away from school-work, I will
implement some of them. In the meantime, I hope that someone will step up
and take them on as their own projects!

Good job so far Nautilus hackers and Eazel!

Jonathan LaCour
Developer, VertiSoft
Student, Georgia Tech

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