unity-design team mailing list archive

[Pedro Bessa <pedbessa@xxxxxxxxx>]

this e-mail letter relates to:
- Mark's alt is taken e-mail letter
- Jo's connect hud actions e-mail letter


regular users like expressive shortcuts
hItting Super once = expressive Dash shortcuts (you type Nauti to see 
Nautilus, then hit enter to launch Nautilus)
hackers like cryptic shortcuts
holding Super plus hitting a key = cryptic Dash shortcuts (you hit 
Super+1 to launch Nautilus)
so Super is expressive and cryptic at the same time

let's go on with the symmetry

regular users like expressive shortcuts
hItting ALT once = expressive HUD shortcuts (you type Co to see Copy, 
then hit enter to copy)
hackers like cryptic shortcuts
holding CTRL plus hitting a key = cryptic HUD shortcuts (you hit CTRL+C 
to copy)
ALT is expressive and CTRL is cryptic, but why? The symmetry is broken! 
CTRL should be expressive and cryptic at the same time


the instructions are:

make hit CTRL once be expressive HUD shortcuts (you type Co to see Copy)
let holding CTRL plus hitting a key continue being cryptic HUD shortcuts 
(you hit CTRL+C to copy)
make hit ALT once show F_ile, E_dit, S_how etc (do what it did before 
HUD existed)

the instructions do:

create a rule in the user's mind
hit modifier to launch expressive gui
hold modifier, then hit a key to run cryptic action


alt is taken, Mr. Shuttleworth? free alt
connect HUD actions, Mr. Schinstad? Copy is connected to CTRL+C whether 
you want it or not, let the user connect more actions to CTRL keys