Re: [Usability]A Challenge: Describe the GNOME 4.0 interface.

[Jan Morén <jan moren lucs lu se>]

> >Is there a menu of tasks?  How do you create a new document?
> >
> There should be this task menu for novice users, but almost all 
> applications can be turned to be document centered (.desktop url files, 
> irc://opennet.net/#gpul , saved games, game levels, etc. etc.) so the 
> big point is making this document centering RIGHT.
> 
> Windoze 95 almost make it well, but you have to be a registry-guru to 
> add new templates (or use the TweakUI app). In may opinión, Document 
> Templates are as important as MIME types and its default actions and 
> should be defined by the great people from OpenDesktop, they should be 
> placed somewhere like /usr/share/templates and ~/.templates and 
> installed with every package.

On a somewhat closer timeframe, I've been pondering the idea of data
views. Something like Evolutions virtual folders, but for the whole
system. Imagine having one folder containing all documents on the system
that are PDF, with the creator string (or metadata description) listing
a given science journal. Collect such folders into a metafolder for
journal articles. Then have another set of folders where the criterion
is the author, rather than journal. Have a folder for anything on the
system referenced by your in-progress paper.

The same kind of custom views could be done for music or video
collections, other kinds of texts, bookmarks, applications and so on.
You could make a virtual folder containing everything you have - or have
referenced on the net - regarding one subject. Even off-system data
could be referenced; a DVD that you own would be entered (with metadata
gleaned from the disc) but marked as off-line (and you can always add
custom info, such as "on loan to my deadbeat brother").

Add new data to the system (and it could be as simple as surfing to a
webpage that of course is indexed as you view it), and it will
immediately show up in all relevant folders. The actual file system
organization of your data becomes all but irrelevant.


-- 
Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.

Tel.    +46-046 222 8588             Dr. Janne Morén
Home:   +46-046 211 4973             Dept. of Cognitive Science
Fax:    +46-046 222 9758             Kungshuset, Lund
                                     S-222 22 Lund, Sweden