unity-design team mailing list archive

["C. Cooke" <ccooke-launchpad@xxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, Feb 08, 2012 at 11:37:58AM +0000, Mark Shuttleworth wrote:
> 
>    In fact, the dodge-windows approach tested very poorly. We thought it
>    would work well, tried it, tested it, and have had to evolve from there
>    based on evidence.

<snip>

>    Here's the problem. Most users don't discover the dodging by moving a
>    window till it touches the launcher. They first encounter it when they
>    maximise a window. So, they login to the desktop. Good. They start an app.
>    Good. Then they maximise a window, and the launcher "disappears". To these
>    users, the behaviour is deeply uncomfortable, random. And these are in
>    fact the majority of users.

Damn, that makes me sad. I really like the dodge windows feature, but
I can see the confusion it could bring. 
> 
>    It also turns out that users who can work with dodging launchers can also
>    work perfectly well with launchers which always hide when not used.
> 
>    So, based on that, we made the following design choices:
> 
>     1. To start with the launcher always visible. This is the least
>        surprising starting position. Nothing happens unless the user commands
>        it.
>     2. To expose an option of having the launcher hide, or be fixed.
>     3. Not to offer a dodge option, because users who don't want it always
>        there are perfectly capable of using it in plain hiding mode, and
>        users who don't know what 'dodge' means don't have to spend time
>        trying to parse it.
> 

<snip: Only option on small screens>

>    We agree on both the facts, just not your conclusion :). Yes, always-hide
>    is a poor starting point for new users. And yes, never-hide wastes space
>    on small devices. But the current approach is clear at the start and
>    accommodates efficient use of space for those who need it or prefer it.
> 

This just makes me feel it's absolutely essential to have some sort of
introduction app run automatically after installation or dist-upgrade.
Telling users they can hide the bar would be much better (for users
with a small screen) than making them have to search in likely
unfamiliar menus. 

Maybe such an app could be pinned to the launcher by default (even
when not automatically launched), with some basic help and
information.

Far too late to suggest such a thing now, though, I guess :-)

-- 
for((P=10**8,Q=P/100,X=320*Q/(`tput cols`-1),Y=210*Q/`tput lines`,y=-105*Q,v=-2\
20*Q,x=v;y<105*Q;x=v,y+=Y));do for((;x<P;a=b=i=k=c=0,x+=X));do for((;a*a+b*b<2*\
P*P&&i++<99;a=((c=a)*a-b*b)/P+x,b=2*c*b/P+y));do :;done;(((j=(i<99?i%16:0)+30)>\
37?k=1,j-=8:0));echo -ne "\E[$k;$j"mE;done;echo -e \\E[0m;done # Charles Cooke