Re: [Usability] nautilus, panel, and metacity not acting as if the desktop was a single entity

[Diego Moya <turingt gmail com>]

On 12/07/05, Eric Larson <elarson novell com> wrote:
> Hmmm
> 
> > Having said that, I totally agree that we should strongly discourage
> > applications to install launchers on the desktop... if we could find a
> > way to prevent that whilst still allowing the user to create their own,
> > I'd be entirely in favour.

Having frequent install launchers under the Applications menu could be
a solution. They should be automatically added to the menu for it to
work.


> Also, in user tests they often mention things like "I have an icon on my
> desktop for..." where it refers to anything from bookmarks to
> applications to documents. Now I totally agree that this gets really
> annoying to many people since it can make for a cluttered desktop. It is
> also silly that in order to launch an application you have to minimize
> applications so you can see your desktop. With that said, it makes one
> wonder why there is so much inconsistency with how users launch apps and
> things.

This academic paper has many insights of the common use of desktops
from "normal" users (Windows and Mac OS based, though). It gives
information of the mental model and expectations of the average user,
and proposes several possible enhancements to the current idea of
desktop.

"In pursuit of desktop evolution: User problems and practices with
modern desktop systems." (Ravasio 2004)

Link: (might require access from an academic institution to read it)
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=+Ravasio%3A+In+pursuit+of+desktop+evolution&btnG=Search


> 
> My main point here is that just because some people like to keep a clean
> desktop, it doesn't mean that others are wrong for having a messy one.
> To many people the desktop is a manageable space for them to put all
> their files, bookmarks and everything else. They never have to think
> about things like file system or where things are. They just go to their
> desktop and start looking. I am not saying this is ideal mental model
> but rather just pointing out that it can still be a very valid model for
> using a computer.
> 

The Mezzo desktop is a GUI proposal to achieve these objectives:

http://homepage.mac.com/jasonspisak/Mezzo/Menu3.html

Several of these ideas could be implemented in Gnome through special
menu-like applets.