Re: [Usability] File operations dialog redesign

[Matthew Paul Thomas <mpt myrealbox com>]

Matthew Paul Thomas wrote on 01/05/08 22:34:
>...
> It would be easy to let this drift into something complicated that 
> looked like a download manager, which would be ugly and cramped in the 
> usual case of presenting just one move or copy at a time.
>...

With that in mind, I've revised
<http://live.gnome.org/Nautilus/ProgressWindow> taking into account all
your feedback.

Kirk Bridger wrote on 02/05/08 14:56:
>...
> Matthew Paul Thomas wrote:
>>
>> On Apr 28, 2008, at 3:56 PM, Kirk Bridger wrote:
>>
>>>  The only use case I can think of (because I've experienced it) is
>>> using pause to prioritize specific copying.  If we have multiple
>>> things going over the wire, and suddenly I want one to be the only
>>> thing going, to make it get there as fast as possible, I'd pause the
>>> lower priority ones.
>>
>> Interesting. For that purpose, how about a "Pause All Others" button
>> instead of a "Pause" button? That way if you wanted one task to be
>> the only one going, instead of having to click a button for each of
>> the *other* tasks, you'd click only one button in the section for
>> *that* task.
>>
>> (If Nautilus included such a button, probably it would be in the
>> expandable section, since it would be needed infrequently.)
>...
> I agree it should not be visible by default - it is not the typical
> flow of things.  I might reword the command to something less indirect
> and more direct: "click here to affect everything else" might better
> be worded as "do this one first" for example.  When I click something,
> the associated "thing" should be the recipient of the action, not
> everything else.  That way when I choose something I don't have to do
> reverse math (like playing minefield almost).

I've added a "Do First" button.

> Could we use some kind of metaphor like stat in a medical sense, or
> courier shipping options (next day versus 3-5 business days), or some
> other mental model to make it clear what this is doing?  Just throwing
> early-morning ideas out there.

Interesting idea. I considered labelling it "Express" (which is
sometimes used as a verb), but I think that might be a litle too weird.
(I'd be glad to see any test results demonstrating that it isn't, or
even that it's less weird than "Do First".)

Liam R E Quin wrote on 02/05/08 18:31:
> 
> On Thu, 2008-05-01 at 22:34 +0100, Matthew Paul Thomas wrote:
>> 
>> On Apr 28, 2008, at 3:56 PM, Kirk Bridger wrote:
>>> 
>>>  The only use case I can think of (because I've experienced it) is
>>> using pause to prioritize specific copying.
>
> Or de-prioritize -- I'm copying over the network and it's using all
> my bandwidth, and now the phone rings and I need to check my bank
> account, or maybe I need to take a VoIP call...  the "pause"
> button on a Web page download (is that epiphany or firefox? I forget)
> is a good example.

"Pause" could address your use case, if you paused *all* network-bound
tasks; a "Pause All" button would be better. Similarly, "Pause" would
address the do-this-one-first use case, but only if you paused *all*
other tasks; a "Do First" button would be better.

I'd really like to keep the interface to only two buttons per task --
Stop, and one other. Given that constraint, I think I'd rather address
one of those use cases well, rather than both of them poorly. I'm open
to being persuaded otherwise, though.

To those people who responded on the wiki page, I've replied on the wiki
page.

Thanks
-- 
Matthew Paul Thomas
http://mpt.net.nz/