Re: [Usability]Re: Notification area (was: Music player UI)

[Per Cederberg <per percederberg net>]

Jeff Waugh wrote:
> > The few good ones (volume control, as an example) could either continue
> > to be exposed, or made into status icons (the status of my volume).
>
>
> Go back and rewrite the sentence using the correct terminology, and see if
> it makes sense, ie. swap 'status' for 'notification'. Now compare the Mac OS
> X volume control and the Windows volume control.

What do you mean? Do Windows and Mac OS X behave good or bad?

> We don't need to remove applets altogether - we need to improve how they
> operate and define where they're relevant, and make sure the notification
> area is used as it was designed. Then we can avoid the mistakes other
> platforms have made in this area.

So the notification area is only to be used for notifications
(I assume). But what exactly is a "notification"? Is temporary
existence the criteria? Or is it that the system adds and
removes icons as it see fit?

I'm not convinced that there is a relevant distinction between
my volume control icon and the (now suggested) media player
icon. Is the current CPU usage a "status" or "notification"
icon? How about the current system time? Are there some good
examples that you can point me to, so that the distinction
becomes clearer?

/Per - who saw the notification area for the first time today

----
Per Cederberg
http://www.percederberg.net/