Common Usability Terms: pt. VI: the Dock
Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sun 18th Nov 2007 15:46 UTC
Graphics, User Interfaces This is the sixth article in a series on common usability and graphical user interface related terms [part I | part II | part III | part IV | part V]. On the internet, and especially in forum discussions like we all have here on OSNews, it is almost certain that in any given discussion, someone will most likely bring up usability and GUI related terms - things like spatial memory, widgets, consistency, Fitts' Law, and more. The aim of this series is to explain these terms, learn something about their origins, and finally rate their importance in the field of usability and (graphical) user interface design. In part VI, we focus on the dock.
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google_ninja
Member since:
2006-02-05

Sorry if it seems like an attack, but I have something to say on virtually every point you bring up ;)

other supposedly helpful desktop desktop accessories (a bit like the notorious MS Office paper clip assistant)


Something to keep in mind about the notoriously awful clippy, is that it was the implementation, not the idea that blew.

First off, there was a 10 second animation before and after EVERY event. That is an eternity when it comes to UI elements. Secondly, it was a large floating element that was constantly obscuring some element you wanted to access. Thirdly, it was next to impossible to get rid of, every time you thought you did, it just came back.

All that being said, a contextual help area that is constantly being updated based on what the user is doing is a fantastic idea. The horrible implementation in Office has unfortunately soured people to it. If someone could come with an implementation similar to tooltips (there when you want it, invisible if you dont need it), IMHO it could be a fantastic way of doing inline help.

such apps tend to take quite a lot of desktop space and eat a lot of system resources that might be more useful for actual applications. Ok, maybe you can hide the dock when you don't want to see it, but often that may be rather troublesome too.


The problem with hiding the dock (or panels of any sort on other operating systems) is that the trigger area for showing it is WAY to large. If (for example), the trigger was in the lower left hand corner, and as soon as your mouse hit it, the dock would expand out, anchored from the left side of the screen, you would get the desired functionality, while very rarely triggering it accidentally. When the bottom five pixels of the entire monitor triggers the show operation, you will trigger it accidentally far more often then on purpose.

As for it taking space, as can be seen from the Fitts' Law article, the larger the hit area, the easier it is to aquire the target. 4x4 icons may be really pro, but it is exponentially easier to hit 16x16. It really comes down to a tradeoff between work area chewed up, and difficulty in hitting the target. I am a big fan of the quicklaunch in windows (I hate, hate, hate the start menu, and always have), but even with that I will semi-regularily launch the wrong app by mistake, due to the small size of the icons.

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