"I think the result of the usability test was that people clicked "home folder" icon on launcher expecting the dash."
i'm fairly sure that was a problem caused by how the dash button looked more like a logo stuck on the panel than a button to push. granted having a big orange button with a house on it could easily be mistaken for something other than the home directory by people who are unfamiliar with linux. it also probably didn't help that backlights are enabled by default in 11.04 and orange is a fairly used color in the default theme.
at any rate i don't like the new big orange button. i liked my dash button up in the panel... i'd much rather have my window controls on the right and dash button where it was in natty and there's already too much on the launcher that i'm unable to remove.
--
Josh Strawbridge