unity-design team mailing list archive

[Robin Anderson <afisynte@xxxxxxxxx>]

Since I just joined this list I don't know of an easy way to reply to the
messages sent so far in this thread so I'll say here, I definitely agree
with everything in the thread so far; quality suggestions.


For how to have minimized applications available on all workspaces: My first
thought was to have a kind of new separate Window List but for icons and
basically the same as how the Notification Area is currently used, but if
the Design Team wants to get away from that then it limits the options.
Perhaps make such a new thing but it is somehow technically strict about
what can be done with it; only allow certain responses for left click,
double left click, right click, etc. There might be some relevant user
interaction studies out there. I will have to this about this.


About removing the workspaces from default installs: Doing so with an alpha
or beta would probably get a lot of public discussion going (this is related
to the earlier comment about the public not really being aware of 'inner
workings' even if they're on a something like a public mailing list) similar
to the now infamous window button placement. I use 10 workspaces myself and
I recognize I'm definitely not the average user, but I would really prefer
if actual releases of Ubuntu still included them so application designers
would still keep them in mind even if they only plan to target Ubuntu, for
cross-distro compatibility if anything else.

There was that Esfera talk not too long ago and more recently the window
button placement, so if Ubuntu is moving into either a more
touchscreen-friendly setup by default or more Mac-OS-X-oriented, the
suggestions I would make for how to handle a workspace system. But assuming
a desktop-oriented usage scenario: I think the Workspace Switcher and
workspaces themselves would get a lot more used if moving windows between
workspaces was easier. The expo feature in Compiz being enabled by default
and popularized in release literature could maybe work towards that. Perhaps
a program to do what Compiz expo does but doesn't require Compiz or 3d
acceleration could be made for people without capable graphics hardware.

I do recognize that workspaces / virtual desktops are not average user
friendly in the sense that the iPhone OS or Chrome / Chromium OS is but even
Mac OS X with its reputation for ease still fits in features that probably
only more intermediate/advanced people will even use, namely Expose, Spaces
and Time Machine. This is probably more than obvious but just to raise the
topic, one of the first places I would look is Mac OS X's Spaces since it's
the first virtual desktop system to be in wide use by the 'masses'.


Also on the topic of how icons are used, using the right click menu to
provide access to mini-controls might be something to look into. I haven't
used them but I hear newer versions of Windows 7 and Mac OS X do this. I see
it working especially with media players, direct access to controls and all
from one click.


Anzan, he might be thinking from the perspective of super-average users, the
users that get to facebook by typing "facebook" into Google, I call them the
'masses' (less nicely called the 'unwashed masses' sometimes). I was just
thinking about how something like the iPhone might do workspace switching
and remembered it's getting mulitasking soon, so that may be a place to look
for super-simple workspace switching.

On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 12:49 AM, Mark Shuttleworth <mark@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> On 22/04/10 04:27, Robin Anderson wrote:
> > One important point I hope the design team is aware of and that gets
> > into discussions on this topic is that minimizing to the "notification
> > area" / "(not) system tray" is currently a very nice place to put
> > applications so they're accessible from all workspaces / virtual
> > desktops even if they aren't necessarily long-running. Ubuntu, for at
> > least the past several releases, has only had two workspaces on by
> > default so I take it there isn't much of a focus to get average users
> > (read: users that don't change default settings) to use them, but they
> > are quite useful and I'd go so far as to compare them to how a person
> > feels after using a dual monitor setup for a little while compared to
> > always using a single monitor.
>
> It's a good point. The workspaces experience has languished, and I'd
> like for us to climb in and improve it substantially. At the moment, we
> do a half-hearted job - we ship what's there but as you say, only
> configure two workspaces. I'd be inclined to say "ship without
> workspaces" so that we are at least definitive about the position for
> the moment.
>
> I'd welcome a discussion about how we could make workspaces *great*. If
> we can do that, then we would make more of them. And your contribution
> above is a useful start: great workspaces give you easy access to some
> apps regardless of the workspace you happen to be in.
>
> Mark
>
>