[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: New panel layout
From:       David Laban <alsuren () gmail ! com>
Date:       2005-08-29 16:58:14
Message-ID: 200508291758.15175.alsuren () gmail ! com
[Download RAW message or body]

On Monday 29 August 2005 15:29, Uno Engborg wrote:
> The default height of the panel is too high. It allows for two rows of
> applications in the task bar, and two rows of desktops in the pager.
> This doesn't make use of  the fact that screen edges according Fits law
> is very easy targets for the mouse. I would therefore suggest changing
> the default size of the bottom panel to small.
>

I think the time it takes to process the huge amount of information in the 
task bar far exceeds the time it takes to get your mouse there. 

I have my task bar set to "large"(three rows of task bar), and I find that 
that's a better compromise, because I never find myself running out of space 
on the task bar. Whenever I go onto a windows machine (where the default is 
"small") I set it to two lines and the users of those boxes tend to agree 
that it's the best solution (my mother, sister and girlfriend all have two 
lines of taskbar on XP now, but my dad didn't let me get past "unlock 
taskbar" so he didn't see the benefits)

> Making the bottom of the screen panel small, would apart from making the
> items in it more easily clickable, also make more room for  application
> windows as  documents tend to be portrait shaped rather than landscape
> shaped.
>

In modern, multi-tasking environments, I think the area of the screen that's 
most useful is probably the one that lets you manage your multiple

> This leaves us with another problem. The pager would now take too much
> space and not leave enough room for the task bar to show open
> applications.. To solve that I would suggest  removing  everything  but
> the K-menu, the pager and the system tray.
>

On my computer, I have found that the application buttons are too large, so I 
use a two row Quick Launcher for things like konsole and reserve the large 
size buttons for konq and Kmenu

> Now we need to find a place for the things removed. The obvious solution
> would be to do like Gnome and add a panel at the top of the screen as
> well, but that wouldn't work well in KDE as some people use a MacOS-like
> central application menu at the top of the screen. I would therefore
> suggest using a new panel to the center left of the screen.  That panel
> could also hold the icons for the trash and the system that normally
> resides on the desktop usually hidden by open windows. This panel could
> be of size large, to make the icons easily visible or clickable. By
> making the panel centered there would be less risk that it would
> interfere with the bottom panel or MacOS-like application menus if
> turned on.

Moving the panel to the left hand side is an interesting idea though, and I'm 
playing with it right now. (though I keep looking to the bottom right for the 
time and the bottom left for the K menu) Does anyone know why computer 
screens evolved to be wider than they are tall? What you said about portrait 
documents does make a good argument for having a panel at the side.  

> Making this side panel large would make it possible to show time using
> an analog clock instead of a digital one.
> If you look at peoples choice of  wristwatch you will find that most
> people prefer analog time presentation even though they usually are more
> expensive.  So, why shouldn't their computer clock be analog by default
> as well.

A large bottom panel has the same advantage, but I prefer a fuzzy clock that 
has the date and day of the week on it (large panel on XP also shows the day 
and date, which might be another reason why XP users like it)

> One problem:
> Panels at the left and right side of the screens can't be easily
> unhidden as their unhide button will be hidden by the
> bottom panel.  I would suggest making  the unhide button  a thin button
> of the full length of the panel. That way
<s> it would negate Fitts' law, which was the whole reason for splitting the 
panel in the first place </s>
> it would not be covered by other panels. The hide button could remain as 
> it is except for the direction of the arrow.
> This problem with hidden hide buttons should probably be fixed
> regardless if we chose to change the default
> panel layout.
>
I can't reproduce that bug using the kicker from subversion, so I think it's 
probably safe to assume that it's fixed. Whoever is responsible for kicker is 
doing a great job this release. It's pretty impressive
_______________________________________________
kde-usability mailing list
kde-usability@kde.org
https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-usability

[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]