unity-design team mailing list archive

[Martín Soto <donsoto@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 3:16 PM, Luke Benstead <kazade@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> [...] I think the reason that notify-osd's positioning is a particular
> sticking point with many people is that it is something where no
> default location will suit the majority of people. Users with visual
> problems, non-default layouts, applications that have elements right
> where the notification pops up all would like, perhaps need, some way
> to move them out of the way. And the real reason that it causes such
> an issue with people is it's a bloody good idea and they want to be
> able to use it.
>

This is a good point.


> I understand fully what you are saying about both sensible defaults,
> and how too much configuration is a bad thing, (I'm a programmer, I
> know how much more work it adds to make something configurable) but
> sometimes you need to allow some kind of override switch.
>

>From reading this paragraph, though, I get the impression that you see
configuration options as the only, or, at least, the better solution in this
case. Are you really sure? Suppose you go to a user and ask "how would you
like your notifications, top-right corner, middle-right side or lower-right
corner?" Most people, even those technically minded, wouldn't be able to
answer. Actually, they would have to try each option for a while, and it may
turn out that all three are equally disrupting, except that the particular
conditions in which they happen to cause disruption may vary from one to the
next.

So, probably, the solution is rather to find some clever algorithm that
places them dynamically based on the current desktop conditions, but we
won't be motivated to search for this algorithm if we resort to creating
more options as soon as someone complaints.

It is not that problems shouldn't be addressed. They should. The point is,
however, that customization is almost never the right way to address them.

Best wishes,

Martín