Re: [Usability] Prototyping the next generation panel

["Diego Moya" <turingt gmail com>]

2008/11/12 Matthew Paul Thomas <mpt myrealbox com>:
> Take a simple example of "things that need doing". I have a "To do" folder
> containing various files and Web shortcuts for things I need to deal with. I
> have a "To do" e-mail folder containing messages describing tasks I need to
> work on (and then reply to). I have a text file listing other things I need
> to work on. And I have a list of to-dos on the Web, which in my case is a
> list of bugs assigned to me. Why can't the computer help me arrange this
> into a single, non-duplicating list that's categorized by topic instead of
> by medium?
>

I think you've touched some interesting problem here. Current desktops
aren't good for task managing, because you have just one element of
everything - just one taskbar, one recycle bin, one wallpaper, one
start button.

In order to have all elements best configured to work on a single
task, you should be able to (very easily) create "configurations" that
somehow "duplicated" all the available resources, showing items
relevant only to the active task and hiding everything else on demand
(at least while you're focused to solve a concrete task).

Virtual desktops are a way to manage different tasks, but they
ultimately fail because the only element they handle is the list of
open windows - everything else in the windowing environment is shared
between all them.