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

[Phil Bull <philbull gmail com>]

> Where the computer knows where something belongs it should just
> ask, "do you want to put this away?"

Are you thinking of something like filters in Evolution? It might be a
bit more difficult to implement, considering the complexity of
documents compared to mail, but this would be a very nice feature to
have. Plus it's not inconceivable that a basic system of this type
could be up and running for G2.14.

> I don't know if it'd be better, but I do know that wherever the
> metaphor fails ("leaky abstractions", I think that might be a Jef Raskin
> term) users tend to have difficulties... e.g. "drag floppy to waste
> basket to eject"

I was browsing through the HIG recently and the 'device to waste
basket to eject' issue cropped up:

Quoted from:

http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gup/hig/2.0/principles-match.html

> When using metaphors, however, it is important to neither take the metaphor
> too literally, nor to extend the metaphor beyond its reasonable use. For
> example, the capacity of a file folder should not be limited to the capacity
> of a physical file folder, which presumably could contain only a few
> documents before becoming unwieldy. On the other hand, a waste basket
> should not be used for anything other than holding discarded files. It should
> not be used, for example, to eject a removable disk such as a floppy or CD.

So is improving functionality important enough to break an
established, user-familiar metaphor? Or should we seek a new metaphor
to accomodate the features we want to add? IMHO, with
viewports/workspaces the features proposed just don't seem useful
enough to justify a change.

> With a viewport scrolling over
> an infinite (or large) "desk" surface

I like the idea of spatial desktops, but current ideas on navigating
them are poor. I'd rather have a conventional desktop which I could
move around relatively efficiently than have a spatial one which I
couldn't find my way around!

Maybe you already have, but take a look at this:

http://rchi.raskincenter.org/aboutarchy/img/zoomdemo.swf

Which is quicker, clicking on an icon or zooming to find the document?
Usability shouldn't be sacrificed to accomodate a 'better' metaphor.

--
Phil Bull
philbull.tk