Re: [Usability] Behavior of Minimizing Windows Violates Mental Model

[Allan Caeg <allancaeg ubuntu com>]

That's the right term. It feels odd. Nice to know I'm not alone.

It's probably because we have a clear perception of how minimizing feels and this new way of minimizing doesn't follow the conventions. It can be best to explore solutions to not break the firm mental model in minimizing while incorporating Shell's innovations. 

On Tue, Nov 16, 2010 at 12:22 AM, Adam Williamson <awilliam redhat com> wrote:

On Mon, 2010-11-15 at 23:24 +0800, Allan Caeg wrote:
> Hello,
>
>
> Just wanted to share a personal experience with GNOME Shell. One of
> its new and unique attributes is not having the window list or any
> sort of persistent widget that shows running apps or opened windows.
> This has benefits, in theory, like helping the user focus on the
> foreground task.
>
>
> It's just worth noting that one of its potential downsides is it
> violates the user's mental model, which makes it undesirable, even if
> it *may* help increase productivity. With a window list, it's clear to
> the user where the window goes when it's minimized and how to show it
> again. In GNOME Shell, the only clear way to tell if a window is
> minimized is to check if it can't be seen in the workspace, but it's
> shown in the Overview or Window Switcher (alt+tab). Teling which
> windows are minimized or not may not have real benefits, but it may be
> too disorienting for users.

I agree - I rarely minimize windows so it's not really an issue for me,
but when I have done it in GNOME shell (usually accidentally), it does
feel a little odd.
--
Adam Williamson
Fedora QA Community Monkey
IRC: adamw | Fedora Talk: adamwill AT fedoraproject DOT org
http://www.happyassassin.net

--
Regards,
Allan

User Experience Designer
http://www.google.com/profiles/allancaeg#about
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