unity-design team mailing list archive

[Jorge Ortega <jorge.ortega111@xxxxxxxxx>]

>
> What if I want to use two applications at once?
> I prefer an environment in which I decide where windows are placed and when
> they're minimized, and given the ubiquity of such a convention I'd be very
> surprised if user testing could demonstrate that others don't.
> I may be referring to a web page as I take notes in a word processor, or
> copying parts of scripts a friend sent me in an email into GIMP.  All sorts
> of combinations of simultaneous use are easily imaginable.
>

For example: drag word processor icon onto Firefox icon. For example: give
the option to "lock" a workspace with corresponding icon -say- at the bottom
of the unity bar.

I prefer an environment in which I decide where windows are placed and when
> they're minimized, and given the ubiquity of such a convention I'd be very
> surprised if user testing could demonstrate that others don't.


But you don't work in an environment in which you decide that all windows
are open in the same workspace: this is just the default behaviour and you
had to adapt to it.
I could argue that the ubiquity of such convention has created the ubiquity
of "how the hell do I find my way through this mess of 10 open windows in
the same workspace". This is the problem I was trying to address.

How many time have you seen it (or suffered it)? some one trying to find
that app varied between many other windows...
On 14 April 2011 22:10, Richard Gaskin <ambassador@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> On 4/14/11 1:48 PM, Jorge Ortega wrote:
>
>> I think from now own I'm repeating myself but I'll try again.
>>
>> If I call them virtual desktops is because they are not real, in the sense
>> that Gimp open and running is real. There is not system overhead there. I
>> really don't see the extra layer of complexity, quite the opposite. This
>> is
>> simple: one running app-one dektop/workspace/background. In this respect
>> changing between workspaces is not any different than changing between
>> running apps: an icon-click or shortcut away.
>>
>> To be honest, this wouldn't be very different from saying: every time the
>> user opens a new app the others get minimize instantly.
>>
>
> I still can't post to the Ayatana List (neither the list admin nor anyone
> else I've tried writing to can figure out why), so please forgive me for
> writing to you directly but I must ask:
>
> What if I want to use two applications at once?
>
> I may be referring to a web page as I take notes in a word processor, or
> copying parts of scripts a friend sent me in an email into GIMP.  All sorts
> of combinations of simultaneous use are easily imaginable.
>
> I prefer an environment in which I decide where windows are placed and when
> they're minimized, and given the ubiquity of such a convention I'd be very
> surprised if user testing could demonstrate that others don't.
>
> That assumes, of course, that user testing of such important and pervasive
> design decisions is being done with A/B prototypes.
>
> If not, then perhaps that's the meta-problem that needs to be solved before
> any other design problem can be addressed by more than a hunch. Heuristics
> only go so far, and with something as bold as Unity they can be difficult to
> apply without prejudice.
>
> I spoke with Ted Gould at SCaLE about the possibility of drafting user
> testing guidelines to allow distributed testing by the community with
> minimal cost to Canonical.
>
> If this sort of thing is of interest I'd be happy to contribute in any way
> I can, even if it's just to help set up the logistics to deliver raw data to
> the usability professionals at Canonical in a way that avoids potentially
> poor interpretation by contributors.
>
> --
>  Richard Gaskin
>  ___________________________________________________________
>  Ambassador@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx       http://www.FourthWorld.com
>