Re: [Usability] Usable workspaces for everyone (was: Desktops View in Taskbar)

[Alan Horkan <horkana maths tcd ie>]

On Wed, 6 Sep 2006, Daniel Borgmann wrote:

> Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 23:56:10 +0200
> From: Daniel Borgmann <daniel borgmann gmail com>
> To: Alan Horkan <horkana maths tcd ie>
> Cc: usability gnome org
> Subject: Re: Usable workspaces for everyone (was: Desktops View in
>     Taskbar)
>
> On 9/6/06, Alan Horkan <horkana maths tcd ie> wrote:

> > Windows provided a power toy which gave basic workspace functionality and
> > I don't think it is a bad thing to have as an optional extra but having
> > them by default is another matter.


Please read this again as it is really important to understand how users
can be confused:

> > I can all too easily see beginners accidentally switching to another
> > workspace and wondering where all their programs went and not realise
> > how to get them back.

I also mentioned how frequently users get trapped by Insert/Overwrite as a
clear example of how easily users can be confused and not necessarily
notice the implications of their actions.  Accidentally clicking on the
workspace switcher and changing to another workspace is not something
users will necessarily know how to reverse back out of without needing
help.

Perhaps some kind of suitable animation/decoration could make a future
version much clearer, sure but I wasn't talking about future versions of
workspaces which haven't been written yet.

> We should think for our users, not take the easy way out and take
> possibilities away from them,

We should provide sensible defaults.  Allowing users to "add to panel"
does give plenty of possibilities irrespective of what is included on
the panel by default.

I'm just stating my opinion.  Gnome has a feature enabled by default which
Microsoft have chosen not to enable and it seems like neither will Apple.
I long ago accepted that enough people like workspaces that it is good to
have them but I do not accept it is a wise default for the reasons already
outlined.  It isn't like I am even pushing to have workspaces turned off
by default, yet.  If I were an admin deploying Gnome or otherwise
providing technical support to Gnome users it would be high on my list of
things to lockdown to prevent accidents.

-- 
Alan