Re: [Usability] Deep thoughts and proposal on the awful trashcan/eject

[Matthew Thomas <mpt myrealbox com>]

Jason Hoover wrote:
> ...
> Why is it, that when nautilus discovers, even knows, what the user is
> trying to do, that it tells the user "You shouldn't do that. you should
> do this instead"?
>
> This generally leads me, and others, I'm sure, to the same question
> almost every time; "Why the hell not?"
> ...

Perhaps the only time a program should do that is when there is a faster 
way of doing the same thing -- in which case telling you what it is will 
save you time in the long run.

The problem here is that there *is* no faster way of doing the same 
thing. Using the shortcut menu can be faster if you (1) know that it 
exists, (2) are using a multiple-button mouse (rather than a trackpad or 
a single-button mouse), and (3) are using an OS that has a Trash icon on 
the desktop rather than the Fitt's-friendly applet used in Ubuntu. But 
for many people one or more of those things won't be true.

Even if there was a faster way, dragging to the Trash should do what you 
mean *as well as* telling you what the faster way is. For example:
 __________________________________________________
|                                                  |
| ,---.  The volume "jason 2005" has been ejected. |
| | i |                                            |
| '---'  You can eject a volume more quickly by    |
|        clicking the ⏏ button in the corner of   |
|        its icon.                                 |
|                                                  |
|                                       ((  OK  )) |
|__________________________________________________|

--
Matthew Thomas
http://mpt.net.nz/