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

[Sean Middleditch <elanthis awesomeplay com>]

On Sun, 2003-02-23 at 19:46, Jeff Waugh wrote:
> <quote who="Sean Middleditch">

> > On a home machine, you can't stop it no matter what.  If people install
> > Crap(tm), Crap(tm) will run.  If not a status docklet, then an applet, if
> > not an applet, a whole new panel, etc.  At the office, well - users
> > shouldn't be able to install Crap(tm).  
> 
> But in the GNOME Desktop release we need a standard, and in the HIG we need
> guidelines.

Yes, definitely.  That doesn't help with stupid apps, tho, is my point. 
Just like we have a HIG and I still see all sorts of apps that don't
follow it (altho I bug the authors to hell and back about it ;-)

> 
> > A user does *not* need a command-line on the their panel, nor do they need
> > to see their CPU usage graphed, etc.
> 
> Seeing what your CPU is doing, at a glance, can be incredibly important.

Depending on your technical experience, sure.  But does it belong on the
panel?

> 
> > 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.

Yes, right, 'notification area'.  Terminology always has been my weak
point. ;-)  I don't have access to a Mac, how does it handle the volume
control?  (In comparison to Windows/GNOME)

> 
> > Most the other applets we have are either a) useless (geyes, oo boy,
> > there's something we need)
> 
> Tell that to:
> 
>   a) the notebook owner who often can't see her mouse cursor due to the slow
>   updates of LCD screens (geyes + the press-control-to-find-cursor feature
>   are both helpful)
> 
>   b) the stock trader trying to look for his mouse cursor which is hiding
>   somewhere on one of his six screens (the directional hint from geyes is
>   very useful here)

Hmm, point.  /me has new respect for geyes.  ~,^

> 
> > b) duplicated elsewhere (dictionary lookup, for example).
> 
> Nice to have a spot to paste/type words to do the lookup, accessible from
> everywhere. If you find words important, it's very handy (but sure, it could
> also be relegated to something like geektoys).
> 

Well, I personally see all applets save the core-stuff as such geektoys,
but then, that's just me, apparantly.  ~,^

> > I'd be all for removing the concept of applet altogether, personally,
> > but I guess enough l337 h4c|<3r5 would be against the idea of not being
> > able to have a cdplayer applet or something (which is silly, given that
> > gnome-cd now has a status icon ;-)
> 
> Which requires a click to get a menu, rather than providing buttons and
> 'status' right there in front of you. The CD player notification icon is
> another misuse of the notification area.

The notification area also kinda sucks for notification.  A little icon
on your panel changing is completely not noticable.  If the balloon
popups were used (those are still part of the spec, no?) it might be a
lot better; I haven't seen an app that uses those yet tho.

If applets *are* the way to go for controlling apps from the panel, then
maybe something like quicklounge for applets would be a good idea. 
(I.e., a panel on a panel).  Then you could "group" applets together,
and management of panel space gets a lot easier.

> 
> > Most of the applets I've seen are things that would work quite well as a
> > status icon, tho. 
> 
> s/status/notification/ -> no, they would not be appropriate.

> 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.

Well, if the notification area is *only* for notification, then
something for monitoring status of *apps* (not permanent panel fixtures,
a.k.a. applets) should be thought up.  It makes sense to me at least
that the notification area could serve both purposes.

Consistancy is also definitely something not done correctly atm.  Some
notification icons open a window when clicked.  Of those, only some hide
the window when clicked again.  Some offer context-menues, others
don't.  That definitely needs to be a part of afore-mentioned policy.

As you say, definition of what applets are for and how they should be
used is definitely important.  I'm also curious to see some definitions
on what the panels themselves are, and how they should be used - are
they just the place to stuff everything we want to always be visible? 
Our general application launching, desktop controlling, notification
viewing, application monitoring, menu managing, "thing" ?  Does all this
stuff belong in the panels?

> 
> - Jeff