unity-design team mailing list archive

[Remco <remco47@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 22:47, Tyler Brainerd <tylerbrainerd@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I think we need to focus a bit more on the fundamental reasons why we use
> workspaces. I for one often switch to a new workspace because i don't want
> to see any of what i was working on before. I don't want tabs from before,
> apps from before, any single thing, just a clean, open, new desktop. The
> only other way i use it is to have a second reference, so that I can have
> two docs side by side and a third on the next workspace.
> So, if my goal is to have a brand new clean open space, why clutter it up
> with the tabs and such? i don't want to see/think about what i had open
> before. Often I will mentally designate one as personal, one as school, one
> as work, rather then application specific.
> And if these tabs in the mockups (which do look nice, by the way) operate in
> the way describe, what possible benefit is there to not just minimizing
> apps? If every open app on every open workspace is on something that is
> basically the taskbar to begin with (just with workspace grouping added)
> then its actually more cluttered, more duplicated feature, and quite
> frankly, not helpful yet.

I see your point, but I disagree that the workspace tabs aren't
helpful. The idea of workspaces is that they reduce screen clutter of
many opened windows. This is functionality that the workspace tabs
replicate in a more discoverable manner. Once you click on the Plus
button, you're presented with an empty screen. The icons of running
(or pinned) programs on other tabs are still there, but your new tab
is squeaky clean.

The window list is an additional feature to help with switching
programs. A long list of windows is hard to search through, yes, but
it doesn't become easier when most of your window list is hidden. But
this can be--and is--a configuration option. The real problem is that
searching a list is relatively difficult for humans, while searching
spatially (through a desktop full of windows) is a lot easier. Mac OSX
enabled this with Exposé, which was copied in Compiz and will also be
a major feature of GNOME Shell. GNOME Shell combines workspaces and
Exposé. [1]

> I'd like to re-bring up my idea for a set of tabs along the top that are not
> workspace with open apps contained, but rather app layers for assignable
> programs. we have one widget layer which many use for widgets or tomboy, but
> what if we design a stackable layer system? have the first tab be for
> standard desktop/workspace environment. the workspace switcher can remain as
> is until a more suitable option is worked out. then, instead of rolling over
> to a new desktop, we click to activate the tab on top for messenging apps,
> and up pops of 'widget' type layer. This would de-saturate or fade the
> original workspace, and would bring up whatever you have open in this layer,
> like email, IM, gwibber, which would be interacted with in the standard way.
> both panels would remain as-is, but the taskbar would show what is open and
> active on the 'widget' messenger layer. A second layer can have a file
> browser, or whatever. The user can open anything he or she feels on these
> different layers, but they are not restricted. If i want to pin an IM
> conversation to my primary workspace instead of the IM layer, thats fine, I
> can open it the standard way, or perhaps click and drag it to the top of the
> screen, to the original workspace tab.
> This, i think, would better situate the app specific use of workspaces, much
> better then a series of full workspaces. I for one keep one down and to the
> left with email always open. But this would work better for keeping things
> from getting cluttered. Email would be in the second tab, available on every
> single workspace, just the same as music or any other custom stuff. This
> would add a whole new dimension of workspace use, so rather then just a
> series of never ending desktops, we could get some always quickly available,
> task specific (but specific to the user, not assigned) workspace layers.

I like this as well, I think. I would like to see some kind of mockup.
If I understand correctly, it provides the same functionality as
workspace tabs, only in a different dimension. It's like layers in
GIMP. You can bring a layer to the front, rearrange them, hide/unhide
them. I do believe that this is more difficult to figure out though.
You can't really "see" layers. A new user would have to play with them
to figure out how it works.

I think these two approaches don't bite each other. You could have
"workspace tabs" in the X and Y dimension, and also "workspace layers"
in the Z dimension. The Z dimension would seem to me as more of a
power user feature. But it lends itself to another awesome 3D
visualization: Windows Vista's Flip 3D! [2]

-- 
Remco

[1] http://blog.zedroot.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/gnome-shell-multi-desktop.jpg
[2] http://100vista.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/vista_flip3d.jpg