Re: [Ayatana] Windicators

["appi2012@xxxxxxxxx" <appi2012@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Sun, Feb 20, 2011 at 12:51 PM, Carl Simpson <cwd.simpson@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

My concern is that the functionality of changing the volume of Banshee moves about quite a bit.  It does this in two ways:
1)  It moves from place to place in the interface- namely between the panel and the window decoration of Banshee.
2)  When in Banshee's window decoration it literally changes place on the screen.
This will be true of all system-relevant window indicators.

Is such a degree of movement of functionality acceptable?

+1, this is too much movement and confusion - users should always find what they want where they look. Therefore, having the presence of a window volume control in the sound menu depend on external factors is a design mistake - out of habit, the user will look there, only to find that it's not there. 

What I suggest is to have system-related windicators always be present in the panel, and only have a duplicate shown in the window border if it's not maximized. Although this does duplicate functionality, I feel that the problem this causes are less than the problem caused by the moving of functionality.

Now that I think about it, I see little need for windicators - they offer little benefits, and pose many design problems. :/