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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: Show desktop behaviour
From:       Diego Moya <turingt () gmail ! com>
Date:       2005-09-29 21:04:40
Message-ID: 11ee04940509291404120f33f0 () mail ! gmail ! com
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On 29/09/05, Martijn Klingens <klingens@kde.org> wrote:
> On Thursday 29 September 2005 22:23, Aaron J. Seigo wrote:
> > i'm not particularly interested in personal opinions or arguments of
> > "logic" on this one due to the fact that obviously no matter what is done,
> > someone will be uncomfortable. i have no particular leaning myself. perhaps
> > our usability expertise can weigh in here.

Usability expertise always begins stating that, in order to define a
control, you have to know for what it will be used. What user tasks do
"show desktop" accomplish beyond revealing the desktop? What is the
desktop used for?

> As far as I'm concerned, 'show desktop' is a rather complex paradigm to get.

I agree, and that is because the desktop is a rather complex "object".
In the desktop you have the colliding functions of a folder, an
application launcher (just like the K-menu) and a panel widget/web
page/information source (if you use Superkaramba).

> Even for me it's hard to define what I'd "expect" it to do.
That's because you don't know for what it will be used, and that's
because the desktop serves for too much unrelated goals.


> The label "show desktop" makes it more complex to define. For me it means "go
> to an empty virtual desktop"

This would be not far-fetched. I believe Mac OS X takes a similar
metaphor of "layers" for its applications, with the desktop being the
furthest one and with the possibility to show only one layer at a
time.


> So, in my view the feature itself is hard to define unambiguously and thus
> implement. Hence you'll get bugs whatever you do :/

I would prefer to refactor the goals that the desktop solve,
separating them into several different areas - instead of only one
"show desktop" button, you would have one to show frequently used
files, another for launching applications and yet another one for
showing the Superkaramba widgets.

Which BTW is exactly what SymphonyOs does. I really like that desktop
solution, but that is because it makes sense. It even solves the
problem stated in this thread ;-)
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