[Usability] FOSA ideas

["Eli M. Dow" <dowem clarkson edu>]

Here are some not yet finished gimp mock-ups:

They are based on an existing file selector (Ximian uses it currently I
believe) that was found quite usable by myself and others. The mock-ups
are missing the accelerator underscores because this was done quickly in
gimp. 

This image has removed the trailing slashes from the directory side.
There really is no need for them to be there. The second modification I
did was to change the word "Selection" to "Location". This was done
because location seems a bit more descriptive than selection.  Also,
upon some discussion I made the quick destination buttons on the left
side smaller to accommodate more of them, while enhancing the visible
space allocated to filenames (this is after all a file chooser so seeing
more files at a glance where applicable seems logical). I have added a
quick destination button for network, thus enabling a more rapid way to
place files on a network share of choice. I do not know if it is
possible, but could the "Documents" and "Network" buttons be mapped to
comparable locations under windows, for instance "My Network" places and
"My Documents"? If it is possible, I think these locations might be a
good idea.  

http://www.clarkson.edu/~dowem/dowem-remix2.png

In all of my mock-ups, the refresh button may not be necessary (or may
possibly be made smaller and integrated somewhere else in the UI), and
could potentially be replaced with another more useful location. 

The back and up icons have been added in an attempt to make the file
selector feel very similar to nautilus. Other widgets can achieve the
same navigational effects, but I think they are the right solution in
this set of mock-ups. 

I also mocked one image up with file icons in the Folder list

to indicate the type of directory we are dealing with. 

http://www.clarkson.edu/~dowem/dowem-remix2-withFileTypeIcons.png


Another rendition done was 

http://www.clarkson.edu/~dowem/dowem-remix3.png

, which moves the labels (Folders/Files) outside of the lists. This
might prove to be a cleaner look, but a position for the back and up
arrows needs to be done.

Obviously any combination or permutation of these would work... but I
hope they convey the overall effect I was going for. 

The input box for the file name is much larger than most files would be
names. So to accommodate the need for selecting file encoding/modifiers,
I would recommend placing them on the right hand side of the file name
input, and shortening the input field. I plan on doing a mock-up of this
sometime later in the week if people are interested.  

Should anyone wish to add a preview or thumbnail option, I believe it
would go nicely as a third column in line with the Folder and File
columns similar to how the current versions of the gimp place their
preview window. This space could also be used for any additional widgets
that need to be added.

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P.S. Now for the real crackpipe, and in no way to I imagine we could get
this voodoo right on the first iteration.

Should the refresh button be deemed unnecessary or placed more optimally
in another location, it would be very interesting to use that button for
a removable media icon (when the media is mounted). Probably just a
floppy or zip would make sense here, possibly the burn location if we
have a cd burner in the machine????)