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.
To view parent comment, click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:2005-07-11
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.
Newer versions of Word, most versions of WordPerfect since 8 or 9, and a few KDE apps do this. They put a ~2" column along one side of the screen (right for Word, left for WordPerfect). This area is used for displaying contect-sensitive help links, useful hints, and similar stuff. On low-resolution setups (< 1024x768) it's more annoying than anything as it takes up ~ 33% of the horizontal screen space. But on higher resolution setups, it's not that bad.
The WordPerfect implementation is a lot nicer than the Word implementation. It's actually useful. Especially when it's part of their wizards or perfectexpert projects or whatever they call it.
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.
Not sure about GNOME or XFce, but the KDE external taskbar and kpanel can be configured like that. Enable the left or right hide buttons and auto-hide. 3 seconds (or so) after your mouse leaves the panel, it will zip off to the side appearing as thin bar with an arrow down in one corner. Pop the mouse down to that corner and click to bring it back.
Personally, I can't stand the dock concept, and prefer to put a taskbar at the bottom of the screen that only shows running apps. And an app launcher at the top of the screen with just the apps menu, some quick launch shortcuts, the system tray, and clock. Set to auto-hide. Since it's only used to launch apps, it doesn't need to be visible all the time. And since the taskbar only shows running tasks, it doesn't need to be very tall (32px is plenty). It's a beautiful setup in KDE; GNOME and XFce are a little more difficult to get working right, but once it's configured, it works the same.
Separate running apps from non-running shortcuts/repositories/launchers/etc. Only show the info that is needed. Hide everything else until it's needed.
Edit: Why doesn't the quote feature [ q ][ /q ] work on the the v4 setup???
Edited 2007-11-18 22:08 UTC
Member since:2005-07-08
Well, my comment about MS Clippy help app may not have been a very good one anyway, as it is not so much related to the subject here. My point in mentioning it was only to give some kind of an example about looks vs. real usability. So putting emphasis on aesthetics does not always improve usability.
"4x4 icons may be really pro, but it is exponentially easier to hit 16x16."
Of course you're right about that. And there's absolutely nothing pro about too tiny 4x4 icons IMHO... ;-) Anyway, in Gnome I make my top and bottom panels 21 pixels high (possible with certain fonts like Free Sans) which is plenty enough in order for them to remain both clear to see, easy to use, and narrow enough so that they take minimum amount of space and can contain maximum amount of shortcuts or applets if I prefer to have them there.
"I am a big fan of the quicklaunch in windows (I hate, hate, hate the start menu, and always have)"
But start menus are - for a very good reason - found in almost all desktop environments. You tell that you hate them but fail to explain why? Care to elaborate?
I still wait to see a better way than a handy start menu to show, browse and get access to all the available applications? A start menu - of some sorts - seems like a necessity as far as I can tell. Running commands would be another way to browse, find and open apps - but not very newbie-friendly. The place where the start menu is located or can be opened is not essential. Some window managers have a "start menu" that can be opened by right-clicking the desktop background, but that is still the same start menu, and is also more difficult to reach if the desktop background is hidden under open windows.
Still about docks in general:
Mac OS X dock (and maybe many of its "copies" too) looks really nice. In aesthetics Mac OS X may be a clear winner. But what comes to functionality I prefer the old though maybe a bit dull looking taskbar. Not only does taskbar take much less desktop space but textual shortcuts of the taskbar show much more clearly than mere graphical icons what each shortcut represents. If you have, say, 10 open folders, and you can see only 10 similar looking folder icons side by side on the dock, which is which?
Mac OS X dock has some really nice features, though, like docklings and the availability of extended menus that control applications without making them visible on screen - but that could be implemented with a taskbars too.
Edited 2007-11-18 23:50 UTC
Member since:2006-09-02
But start menus are - for a very good reason - found in almost all desktop environments. You tell that you hate them but fail to explain why? Care to elaborate?
I don't know why he hates it, but here is why I do: there is just so much information in them to easily find the application you are looking for. Especially in Windows, where each installed application puts its entries by default to the Programs root. I have seen such start menus all too often. And if you arrange it to folders (like Games, Utilities, etc), it will take a lot of time to go through the folder structure. Under Linux, it is a bit more sane, but it is much more difficult to edit the menu than in Windows, making it again a bit uncomfortable.
Of course, it is absolutely necessary to have something like that. But for programs I use every day, quicklaunch is much faster and more convenient. That was on Windows, though; on Linux, katapult beats every other solution for me. I do not even have a quick launcher anymore, just alt-space, type the first 2-3 characters, and there is the app I want. Brilliant.
Member since:2006-02-05
I still wait to see a better way than a handy start menu to show, browse and get access to all the available applications? A start menu - of some sorts - seems like a necessity as far as I can tell. Running commands would be another way to browse, find and open apps - but not very newbie-friendly. The place where the start menu is located or can be opened is not essential. Some window managers have a "start menu" that can be opened by right-clicking the desktop background, but that is still the same start menu, and is also more difficult to reach if the desktop background is hidden under open windows.
I dont have a problem with the start menu as sort of an installed software directory, but I don't like it as a main application launcher. On OSX i used quicksilver (now i use spotlight), on linux I use an embedded run dialog (which has been replaced by deskbar in gnome which I don't like at all), and on windows it always bugged me that there was nothing similar (until WDS on Vista).
Currently, I do all my work on vista. I have 7 shortcuts in the quicklaunch that I use several times daily. These require one click.
I have 20 items "pinned" to the start menu (or panel, I guess you would call it now). These are apps I use semi-regularly. It consists of the Office apps, some adobe apps, terminal, powershell, Safari and Opera (for website testing), torrent software, IM software, etc. These take me two clicks. Usually I will use several, but not all of these every day.
So far so good, but what about the hundred or so small apps I use infrequently? Stuff like regedit, defrag software, server config utils, backup software, dvd authoring software, calculator, virtualization software, burning software, etc. That is what most people use the start menu for. These I will use a few of every day, but always different, and not frequently enough to put it in an easy access location.
Start menu requires up to four clicks with a lot of sifting through folder names to get to what I want. Considering the size of the items in the list, the amount of items there are, and the bad organization (ESPECIALLY in windows), it is significantly more of a pain to find what I want. Some people just litter their desktop with hundreds of launchers, so they can quickly find what they need. This is a symptom of the start menu problem.
Nowadays, the only time I open the start menu (or application menu on linux, or the applications folder on OSX), is to see what is installed on a computer I am unfamiliar with. I know this may seem like nit-picking, but IMHO it is a badly designed UI element and I find it frustrating to work with as long as any alternative exists. The fact that so many exist kind of points that I am not the only one to feel this way.
Sorry for the huge response, I figured I may as well be thorough, as it is a hard thing to articulate
Member since:2005-07-06
"The wave of departures is a sign of internal struggle, but amidst all the bad news, there is a glimmer of hope. According to an anonymous HTC executive cited by WSJ, the crucial HTC One is selling 'pretty good so far'. The executive revealed that HTC sold about five million One units since launch, a performance that is deemed encouraging. However, sales have been limited by the persisting supply issues that still plague the production of the HTC One." Finally some good news for HTC. Five million units amidst supply constraints is very impressive.
"Sony gave the PS4 50% more raw shader performance, plain and simple (768 SPs @ 800MHz vs. 1152 SPs & 800MHz). Unlike last generation, you don't need to be some sort of Jedi to extract the PS4's potential here. The Xbox One and PS4 architectures are quite similar, Sony just has more hardware under the hood. Weâll have to wait and see how this hardware delta gets exposed in games over time, but the gap is definitely there. The funny thing about game consoles is that itâs usually the lowest common denominator that determines the bulk of the experience across all platforms. On the plus side, the Xbox One should enjoy better power/thermal characteristics compared to the PlayStation 4. Even compared to the Xbox 360 we should see improvement in many use cases thanks to modern power management techniques." AnandTech does its usual in-depth thing."The Verge has learned that HTC's Chief Product Officer, Kouji Kodera, left the company last week. Kodera was responsible for HTC's overall product strategy, which makes the departure especially notable on the heels of the global launch of the make-or-break One. It's not just Kodera. In the past three-odd months, HTC has lost a number of employees in rapid succession." I really hope HTC pulls it together.
"It is with huge pleasure that the Debian GNU/Hurd team announces the release of Debian GNU/Hurd 2013. This is a snapshot of Debian 'sid' at the time of the Debian 'wheezy' release (May 2013), so it is mostly based on the same sources. It is not an official Debian release, but it is an official Debian GNU/Hurd port release." Important note: 75% of Debian packages are supported bu Debian GNU/Hurd. Impressive.
"The first killer app was VisiCalc. This early spreadsheet turned the Apple II from a hobbyist toy to a business computer. VisiCalc came with room for improvement, though. In addition, a new architecture and operating system, the Intel-based IBM PC and MS-DOS, also needed a spreadsheet to be taken seriously. That spreadsheet, released in early 1983, would be Lotus 1-2-3, and it would change the world. It became the PC's killer app, and the world would never be the same. On May 14, IBM quietly announced the end of the road for 1-2-3, along with Lotus Organizer and the Lotus SmartSuite office suite. Lotus 1-2-3's day is done." Impressive 30 year run.
"There's a disconnect between how Apple CEO Tim Cook sees his company's tax strategies and how some members of the US Senate view it. That became clearer than ever today after Cook and two other Apple executives testified before Congress, explaining why they're holding most of their international income in Irish subsidiaries like Apple Operations International, which declare no tax residency anywhere in the world. AOI hasn't filed a tax return anywhere in the world for the last five years, yet it earned $30 billion in income from 2009 to 2012, according to a Senate report released yesterday." Just because something is legal, doesn't mean it's just. Apple, Google, Microsoft, and many more - these companies might not be breaking any laws, but it's obvious to anyone that what they are doing is scummy.
The new WebKit Opera for Android has been released. "Opera 14 for Android is built on top of Chromium 26, with a total overhaul of the UI in native code, making it fit well with the latest Android design guidelines. Go get the build from Google Play or point your browser to m.opera.com, and give it a spin!"
The Verge pointed me to a blog post by Leap Motion - which reveals how their Kinect-like motion control works with Windows 8. "From the second you plug in your Leap Motion Controller, you'll be able to browse the web and interact with your computer just by moving your hands and fingers in the air. With Leap Motion technology and Windows, you can do everything that's possible with multi-touch inputs - without actually touching anything. This also means that existing applications in Windows 7 and 8 will respond to your natural hand and finger movements. Soon, we'll show you how Leap Motion will work with Mac OS X." Quite cool.PocketNow interviews Marc Dillon, and there's an interesting note about why Jolla is keeping the display properties under wraps: "We're leaving some of those details out because we do understand that there are a lot of really big players in the market and they tend to take certain components in the market and dominate them. We created the ability to actually be able to run Sailfish on multiple hardware displays and be able to swap components, so this is part of the demand and supply planning phase. We are committed to this industrial design which is a 4.5-inch display, an 8 megapixel camera on the back and a front-facing camera at the front, and the exact specs of the display we'll provide when we're close to delivery." Something you rarely hear anything about.
"This is my NeXTstation Turbo Color booting the Mac System 7.1 Operating System using a hardware add-on called 'Daydream'. The Daydream has a Mac ROM and a few custom ICs in it and hooked up to the NeXTs DSP port. Turns your NeXT into a full fledged 68k powered Mac." So cool.
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
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.
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.