Re: [Usability] New "Add to panel" dialog

[John Keller <jkeller matchbox fr>]

Overall, I like the direction that the applet dialog is taking (and that
could be possibly transferred to the preferences). A big thanks to Manu
for seeking this list's input.

(further comments below)

Vincent Untz wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> On Thu, October 20, 2005 00:35, Manu Cornet wrote:
> 
>>I have been working on a new version of the "add to panel" dialog, for
>>the Ubuntu distro. This dialog is already available by default in the
>>new Ubuntu "Breezy Badger" version.
> 
> 
> People might be interested in reading Calum's posts about this dialog:
> 
> http://blogs.gnome.org/view/calum/2005/08/16/0
> http://blogs.gnome.org/view/calum/2005/09/20/1

One of Calum's comments that I remember from my original reading: Will
it be possible to search on more words than included in the applet name
or description? That is, something along the lines of (hidden) keywords?

I'm not totally convinced of an implicit "and" for keywords, since I can
imagine the user being too explicit and finding nothing. I suppose that
is mitigated by the live search results, except in cases where the user
isn't looking at that portion of screen (newbies who can't touch type,
vision-impaired or alternate input that requires full visual concentration).


[...]

>>* Selected applet's description appears below the canvas.
> 
> 
> As others have said, a tooltip might be better.

The main thing about this new dialog that worries me is that the
description is hidden until the user clicks - whether in the status bar
or in a tooltip. This isn't a visible function when looking at a static
screen, and it means that the user has to click (or hover) one-by-one
over the icons.

The current dialog might seem sparsely populated, but at least its list
lends itself to scanning (by description as well as name).
Unfortunately, I don't have a proposal to make to resolve this problem
in the new dialog. I just thought it important enough to mention.

- John