unity-design team mailing list archive

[Jo-Erlend Schinstad <joerlend.schinstad@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 26. mai 2011 12:01, Thibaut Brandscheid wrote:
> Hi all
>
> Yesterday evening an idea popped up into my mind about how to improve 
> Dash usability.
>
> Mock-up:
> Dash Idea – Easy Lens Switcher <http://goo.gl/SO9NH>
>
> Two things were bothering me subconsciously:
> - One click switching between Lenses is not possible
> - Having the 'normal' launcher icons grayed out still tempts me to 
> click on them
>
> My idea is having a second 'mini launcher' on the left site of the 
> Dash showing available Lenses. When Dash is active, the top panel and 
> the Ubuntu icon should expand and become 'box elements' (e.g. the 
> search bar). If Dash is maximized to fullscreen, add a third 'box' for 
> indicators - this would make the Dash look less alien to the OS.
>
> I also do suggest to place 'System Settings' into the Dash Launcher 
> (which should be expanded to manage installed Lenses).

I think the idea of a lenses-bar is great. That would solve some problems.
As it is, the Files and folders lense and the Applications lense consumes
two tiles on the launcher, which occupies valuable space without, I think,
adding any significant value.

As Unity matures and is being adopted by more people, we are likely to
see lots of different lenses. Should they all have a static tile on the 
launcher?
If we consider lenses a special kind of application, then I think it makes
very much sense to have an own space for them and using the launcher
that way, seems very nice to me. Since the launcher is deactivated in the
dash in any case, switching to a different view there, making use of that
space, seems like a good idea -- as long as the difference is very clear to
the user.

However, at present, the number of lenses are limited. Perhaps this
isn't something that should take high priority until there is a real world
need for it? The way you describe it, it sounds like a very non-invasive
enhancement that could be added at any time. With a fairly low number
of lenses actually being used, I think it may feel like an unnecessary
extra step.