unity-design team mailing list archive

[Josh Strawbridge <holyknightjoshua@xxxxxxxxx>]

i had a lot of the same thoughts a few weeks ago and i drew up a mock up of
what i thought dash should be.

dash is very keyboard friendly but when I'm using a mouse (or tablet
actually) it's not a very pleasant experience. i only use the first page of
the dash to get to the second page.

this is what i'd like to see on the first click of the dash button.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-b0nFEjg8IUU/TjfzbXjLQsI/AAAAAAAAAE4/9WjTUSCdq2A/s912/Dash1.png
obviously the search bar stays but the giant buttons have been replaced with
sections for "bookmarked" apps, "frequently used" apps, and recent
files. there are still buttons for application and file menus but they're
not giant and fit into the available space
the "bookmarked" apps shouldn't show up in the "frequently used" apps
section so users actually end up with easy access to 12 or so of their
programs half of which are there by their choice and none of them are
redundant icons.
it would also be nice if items on the launcher didn't show up in this
frequently used section since if someone is opening dash for an application
it likely isn't on their launcher.

this would make dash more immediately useful and more useful in general for
everyone.

the application menu is also an unpleasant thing to work with. it's current
design causes extra mouse travel and clicks
this is my redesign for the application menus
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-aycXldce3wg/Tjfzbf_RTPI/AAAAAAAAAFA/FqqZ-ALECOU/s912/Dash2.png
having the categories listed under the apps button keeps mouse travel in the
same direction and makes them a lot closer to the initial click of the dash
button.

the apps available for download has been replaced by a button that opens the
software center.
only having a name and icon for an app doesn't usually tell you a lot about
the app. it's a poor use of space that everyone I've read mention it would
like to use differently.
this button makes new apps still easy to find for new users but without the
poor use of space in the current design.

"most frequently used" sections should be removed from application
categories. if someone frequently uses something they're likely to have made
it more available to themselves elsewhere such as their launcher or the
first page of the dash.
only having a simple showing of a single category means there are no
redundant icons and more apps showing at a time. this makes it more likely
to find the app on the first page of the category.
i only have experience on my computer but of the 146 apps installed 72 of
them are in Themes & Tweaks or System which i never use. my most used
categories, graphics and multimedia, aren't even a full page while my
sometimes used games category isn't even two full pages.

there should be a button to add applications to the dash.
i think this is needed due to a few situations I've run into.  programs that
are downloaded ready to go without installation, such as the latest versions
of blender, Wine programs, and programs that a user installs from source
don't show up in the dash. two of my most used programs aren't in the dash
because they're latest versions from source or didn't require installing.

the button should open a dialogue box similar to the one in gnome2 for
adding custom launchers to the panel. it should have the same options plus
an option for choosing what category the application shows in and options
for adding quicklist commands.
i think the same dialogue box would also be useful in right clicking on the
launcher to add or edit things there as well.

as for the files menus...
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-05nFrIdK4Ls/TjfzbgwTjGI/AAAAAAAAAFI/3yFRyvi-abY/s912/Dash3.png
i want the front design of the files menus to include everything from the
old gnome2 places menu.  a lot of people have been missing it and i don't
blame them. i put as much of it as i could into quicklists on my Home
launcher. aside from the current dash design and lack of places menu i like
how the files and folders stuff works now.

overall i think this mock up retains the dash's style while making it more
mouse and touch friendly though the view more results text on the first dash
page and the files & folders recent section could be turned into slightly
larger buttons to make those parts a bit more touch friendly.

also, sorry for being long winded.

-- 
Josh Strawbridge