Re: [Usability]Sidebar vs. notebook (was: rhythmbox interface)

[Havoc Pennington <hp redhat com>]

On Fri, Nov 22, 2002 at 06:19:18PM +0100, Soeren Sandmann wrote:
> Jorn Baayen <jorn nl linux org> writes:
> 
> > As you can see, there is a sidebar, which allows you to switch between
> > different views. This has a lot of problems:
> 
> This reminds me: Why would you ever use a sidebar instead of a
> notebook with the tabs on the left? The two widgets seem to provide
> exactly the same interaction: (select from a small, fixed number of
> layouts).
> 
>         - it is not at all clear that clicking the icons on a sidebar
>           would make the layout to the right change.
> 
>         - it is obvious how a notebook works.
> 
>         - having two widgets doing the same is just confusing.

I'm not sure I'd defend it, but I think the rationale is pretty clear:
the sidebar is more attractive.

Notebooks a) are weird-looking on the left because they have long wide
tabs, b) add a frame around the whole display, and c) don't have
pretty icons.

Havoc