Re: [Usability] HIG has severe "MS Windows" flaws.

[Curtis Hovey <sinzui cox net>]

On Fri, 2004-08-13 at 14:16 +0100, Calum Benson wrote:
> On Tue, 2004-08-10 at 20:09,
> Den=?iso-8859-1?Q?=EDs_Fern=E1ndez_Cabrera?= wrote:
> 
> > But the correct solution is to code menu
> > triggering as a broadening cone, instead as a rectangular region, so that
> > the user can drift off from the parent entry on his way to the new
> > submenu.

Works well for me in G 2.6, but the behavior can appear erratic.  The
delay is canceled when the mouse moves over something meaningful in the
menu.  That meaningful something is usually text, usually on the
opposite side the submenu is appearing on.  So I can move my mouse down
a number of items in the menu before I get to the submenu, so long as
the text of those menus are short.

> Hmm... I believe this is pretty much how it does work (and certainly
> seemed to when I tried it there just now)-- I vaguely remember the
> original discussions about it three or so years ago.  Maybe it needs
> some tweaking, but I've never had a problem with it personally.
> 
> > Or, what is the greatest flaw in GNOME pannel? Or on maximized mode of
> > applications such as Inkscape? The fact that pannel launchers, and
> > Inkscape's maximized menues, end a pixel or two before the edge of the
> > screen.
> 
> Panel launchers go right to the edge of the screen for me-- which
> version of GNOME are you using?  I can't comment on Inkscape though,
> I've never really used it.

I agree that the panel launchers work at the edge of the screen, but the
very vital Window List does not.  The Panel Notification area also
doesn't work at the edge of the screen.  I see that the clock/calendar
and Workspace Switcher do.  I Think the handle bar that makes it easy to
move these two applets also steals the pixels at the edge of the screen.

The Maximize/fullscreen modes used by Inkscape and Epiphany do not take
advantage of Fitts law.  I'm sure the problem is because the menus and
toolbars assume they are within a window and need a few pixels of space
to pad them from the other widgets.  It would be nice to have scenario
work, but I imagine it would be award to change the widget rules based
on the context of the window they are displayed in.

-- 
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sinzui cox net
Guilty of stealing everything I am.