Bruce Tognazzini has posted three new articles reviewing the usability of Mac OS X Panther 10.3, how to get more from Panther and why the dock still… sucks. “Panther: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly“,
“Make Your Mac a Monster Machine” and
“Top (Ten) Nine Reasons the Apple Dock Still Sucks”.
Reviews of Mac OS X Panther by Bruce Tognazzini
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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People are still bitching about the dock, and what’s amusing is that most of those complaints are easily remedied.
9. This is nonsense.
a) it takes up too much space but you can hide it
b) if it were smaller (like the task bar) it would suck but it’s too big
Where’s the problem???
8. Remedied by not minimizing your documents but rather using Expose.
7. Folders can be given different icons. It’s a very simple process really.
6. Isn’t this 7 or 8 all over again?
5. Waah Waah. There are programs that put a trash can on your desktop. I prefer it on the dock because I auto-sort my desktop. He can have it both ways so why is he bitching?
4. Sure, if you auto-hide the dock you’ll have to hunt for a second. So don’t hide it!! I run in 1152-864 and have more than enough screen space. It’s just a matter of what’s important to you… He wants to have his cake and eat it too it seems…
3. The dock is only as big as you want it to be. Unless you put 10 programs in there and minimize 10 more windows it’s not going to be that big. Hint: don’t minimize, use Expose instead.
2. Yay, we finally have it. He’s a “I liked OS9 and OS X is different” user. I wouldn’t be using a Mac if it acted like OS9. I hate menus like that. And again he whines about 7. Hello?? You can change the icons!!!
1. This is silly. Most users won’t drag their document to the doc to begin with.
Conclusion: He hates the doc but can’t come up with anything better.
It’s like he’s trying hard to make the dock suck….
Well, sure, if you try hard enough just about anything will suck.
I am a power user. I love OS X. I love the dock. It is very powerful. He’s just a whiny OS9 user that feels abandoned.
I agree! Expose pretty much eliminates every problem that he presented.
Launchbar. This app is much more productive than dragthing. I used dragthing for years on os 9 and I liked it. Launchbar takes it to another leve!
http://www.obdev.at/products/launchbar/
to be fair, his accompaning link “Make Your Mac a Monster Machine”, remedies his complaints about the dock.
I agree, that’s the one must have utility in osx.
Exposé makes full and proper use of Fitts’s Law. Throwing the mouse into your selected corner carries out your selected Exposé action.
…or, map it to the fourth button on your Logitech Marble Mouse/Tracball/whatever, which is even more convenient. 🙂
I also like the dock. It seems like the only people I’ve met who don’t like it are die-hard classic Mac and Windows users who are too accustomed to their traditional way of doing things. Oh, and a few new OS X users who don’t realize you can do things like dock folders and then use their dock icon’s contextual menu for two-click access to the contents (including subfolders).
I do have two complaints about the dock:
1. It doesn’t cache the contents of docked folders aggressively enough: there is sometimes a delay bringing up a large docked folder’s contextual content menu while the system re-reads the contents from disk.
2. Docked folders should be spring-loaded.
I’m a Cocoa developer and I guess you can call me a power user. And I love the Dock.
Judging by the number of people supporting the Dock, I don’t think I’m alone. If someone hates the Dock, that’s subjective and that’s fine. But this guy is saying that it is a FACT that the Dock sucks and everyone who likes it is an idiot.
I agree with what Tog writes. He’s not an OS 9 devotee who hates OS X; he’s THE MAN when it comes to UI design (even if I disagree with him sometimes myself).
It says something about dj jedi jeff’s complaints, that his remedy for Tog complaint #9 is contradicted by his remedy for Tog complaint #4. WHO is it that wants to have one’s cake & eat it, too? 🙂
As for #3: I completely agree with Tog on this one. I used to keep my Dock hidden on the bottom, but then as he points out:
This excessively-large target also ensures many mistakes, where people are simply sweeping the mouse too far while engaged in their application, suddenly triggering the hidden Dock.
…especially when I’m trying to resize a window, or scroll down.
So I moved the dock to the left side of my screen, and now it’s usually out of the way… but sometimes it creeps in, and worse, Apple’s programming isn’t the greatest, so it doesn’t always slide all the way off the screen, and I have to waste time sliding the pointer left again & then right again.
I rarely minimize documents, but I have 16 applications in my dock (all of which I use frequently, but not simultaneously). It’s ridiculous. There ought to be a way to organize things into “sub-docks”.
Tog is dead right on all these things. I could go on giving reasons, but I won’t.
“I rarely minimize documents, but I have 16 applications in my dock (all of which I use frequently, but not simultaneously). It’s ridiculous. There ought to be a way to organize things into “sub-docks”. ”
Why can’t you drag your app folder to the dock and use its sub menus? I have apps in the dock mainly for drag and drop purposes ie: dropzip/dropstuff. I have about 8 major aps that I usee all the time ie: photoshop/illustrator/freehand etc. and all the rest I access through either the app folder in the dock or through LaunchBar. I don’t see what the complaints are all about?
I agree with what Tog writes. He’s not an OS 9 devotee who hates OS X; he’s THE MAN when it comes to UI design (even if I disagree with him sometimes myself).
So he’s infallible? I don’t think so.
It says something about dj jedi jeff’s complaints, that his remedy for Tog complaint #9 is contradicted by his remedy for Tog complaint #4. WHO is it that wants to have one’s cake & eat it, too? 🙂
No no no
9 a) was what Tog said on his site. I was pointing out how ludicrous it was to complain that the dock was too big when he already mentions
a) you can hide it
and you have little choice but to hide it
b) if it were smaller it wouldn’t be useful
Yes, you can set it much smaller, but then you make it progressivley more difficult to identify an icon without “scrubbing” the screen with your mouse to reveal its label
So it’s the right size and if space is an issue you can hide it. As I said, it’s nonsense.
I rarely minimize documents, but I have 16 applications in my dock (all of which I use frequently, but not simultaneously). It’s ridiculous. There ought to be a way to organize things into “sub-docks”.
Um, there are lots of shareware programs available that allow that sort of thing. Or you can do what I did: include the top 8-10 items in the dock and then create a folder with shortcuts to the lesser used (but still needed) programs and put it in the dock also (with a nice icon so I know what it is). It’s a small folder so the contents pop up instantly. Works like a charm.
Tog is dead right on all these things. I could go on giving reasons, but I won’t.
Everyone has preferences. Tog simply doesn’t want to use the alternatives. He is unhappy that Apple didn’t design their task switcher with EXACTLY his preferences in mind so he says it “sucks”. Well, that’s just too bad. And his supposedly being a UI genius doesn’t somehow turn his personal preferences into “fact”.
but he’s too busy trying to blame Apple.
Case in point… his complaint about quickkeys, that the drawer is badly implemented in their interface. Rather then just say that Quickkeys shows that you can abuse the design of the drawer, he blames Apple with “but OS X should handle this situation better by, for example, disallowing size changes when the focus is in the drawer, rather than the dialog.”
Ummm. no matter how good your API is Bruce, there will always be a way to abuse it.
He has issues with applications, fine but blaming bad UI in an application on the OS is silly IMO. At the end of the day, the developer chooses what to ship and Apple has given developers the tools to do what they want with UI. Even if it’s not as ‘easy’ as they’d like it.
He’s not an OS 9 devotee who hates OS X; he’s THE MAN when it comes to UI design (even if I disagree with him sometimes myself).
I’d like to add that he is behind the old Mac OS UI Guidelines, so of course he loves classic! The most important thing to note is that this is the first thumbs up he has given OS X since its release.
expose and the corner rule.
“Finally, Exposé needs to add a tiny delay before opening when the mouse is thrown into a corner. The corners are such pointer-magnets that users often arrive there by accident. Users, under OS 10.3, are now learning to slow up their mouse activities in general to avoid accidentally triggering Exposé. A delay of between 1/20th of a second and 1/10th of a second should be sufficient and will result in a significant speed increase in other nearby activities, such as accessing the Apple menu.”
Delay? Why in the hell would you put your expose corner as the top left? IMO, that corner should be either nothing or the “never activate screen saver mode” because you don’t want to accidently activate anything when you are going to pull down the apple menu.
If someone uses this corner fo expose instead of the other three can you please explain it?
What he says in Good Bad Ugly about Cascading Close is ridiculous. You could change this behaviour since 10.0.
Or I just don’t understand what he means, but well, it’s not too hard to navigate in the Finder.
he complains about the size of the dock (too big) yet uses konfabulator widgets and wishes that they wouldn’t get small when he uses Expose. This guy cannot make up his mind.
Sigh.
Why is Tog THE MAN? I disagree with his stance that the dock sucks. Does that make me wrong and he right? I enjoy using the dock. Is that a problem? This isn’t some kind of moral discussion, like if it’s OK to steal somebody’s car — where things are mostly black and white. UI is an extremely subjective “science”. Some people hate a UI element that other people love to pieces. That’s just the way it is.
Jared
Why so much energy on the GUI? Every OS has a GUI that works pretty well these days. Apple should start focusing on other aspects of the OS. Be like Microsoft and just add some ugly skins once and a while.
I’m not a big fan of the Dock but I deal with it. I actually miss it when I am on my irix box. Now, I would like am option to turn off the dock because there are times when I would like every inch of scree estate I can get.
because he was one of the original designers of the GUI of Mac. Which does mean something. However, in his blog he makes contradicting statements and states his Opinion as if it were some proven statement.
The dock is in my opinion, a good solution to a task switcher/quick launch bar. It’s not so good when you have like 50 million applications open, but neither is the Windows solution ( the start bar is also crappy ).
Many people want virtual desktops, and I think that for power users this is a good solution. If you know your computer well and like to use different ‘sets’ of applications for different jobs then it’s a good solution to have different ‘modes’ of working. However, for many people, they don’t use more then 5-10 programs ever on their computer. There are good solutions for the power user on all platforms. Some better then others but there is no OS that offers the level of customizability that TOG wants without installing at least one 3rd party program.
Conclusion: He hates the doc but can’t come up with anything better.
Yes, he did. In Classic MacOS.
9. This is nonsense.
a) it takes up too much space but you can hide it
b) if it were smaller (like the task bar) it would suck but it’s too big
Where’s the problem???
The problem is it’s big and clumsy and none of the currently possible solutions remedy the problem without creating others that are at least as bad.
8. Remedied by not minimizing your documents but rather using Expose.
As wonderful as Expose is, it does get a bit busy when there’s dozens/hundreds of windows open. Since you can’t hide windows, only applications, minimising is a good way to temporarily get windows out of Expose’s scope.
7. Folders can be given different icons. It’s a very simple process really.
But first you need a collection of suitable icons to change them to. This sort of thing kludges around a fundamental flaw, it doesn’t fix the problem.
6. Isn’t this 7 or 8 all over again?
I believe he’s complaining because icon “labels” apparently don’t carry over to that document being minimised to the Dock. I can’t say I’ve ever noticed because I don’t use the things, but if it’s true then it is – at the very least – a consistency problem.
5. Waah Waah. There are programs that put a trash can on your desktop. I prefer it on the dock because I auto-sort my desktop. He can have it both ways so why is he bitching?
Because he’s enumerating problems with the Dock, and that’s a problem with the Dock.
4. Sure, if you auto-hide the dock you’ll have to hunt for a second. So don’t hide it!![…]
See #9.
You’re also missing the point, I think. He’s not complaining because you have to make the Dock reappear, he’s complaining that when it reappears, it’s not uncommon for the things that are on it to have moved around while it’s been gone as applications and documents have opened/closed/minimised.
He wants to have his cake and eat it too it seems…
Damn straight. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to.
3. The dock is only as big as you want it to be. Unless you put 10 programs in there and minimize 10 more windows it’s not going to be that big. Hint: don’t minimize, use Expose instead.
If anything, those numbers are conservative for a “power user”. Also, see #9.
You’ve also missed the point again, I think. Which is that the Dock uses the space it takes up very inefficiently (and for all intents and purposes it really takes up the entire edge of the screen). An auto-hidden Dock doesn’t *need* to use anymore screen space while hidden than a 1×1 pixel icon in the corner, and doing so would then free up the entire rest of the edge for more useful things.
2. Yay, we finally have it. He’s a “I liked OS9 and OS X is different” user.<?i>
No, he’s an “I like the best solution” user.
[i]I wouldn’t be using a Mac if it acted like OS9. I hate menus like that.
Ideally, it wouldn’t act exactly like OS9, as he says. It would be an amalgam of ideas.
1. This is silly. Most users won’t drag their document to the doc to begin with.
It’s not just documents, it’s anything. How is a newbie user supposed to know that puff of smoke when they drag an application off the Dock wasn’t the entire application being deleted ? Not to mention the behaviour is inconsistent.
It’s like he’s trying hard to make the dock suck….
It already sucks and has since its inception. Expose at least circumvents some of the issues, but it can’t get around all of them – and the simple fact that the Dock is a clumsy mix of the Taskbar, the Application Menu and the Apple menu.
Well, sure, if you try hard enough just about anything will suck.
Indeed, given how much effort Apple must have put in to come up with something so bad (even more so for Apple), the Dock is a good example of this.
I’ve never really understood why so many have taken such an adamant stance against the dock. I can understand not liking it in preference, but declare it generally bad for everyone seems rather arrogant and pig-headed. A fair number of these complaints don’t even seem to make much sense. You can shrink the dock down, and no the icons aren’t impossible to recognize then. In fact they’re about the same size as the icons you’d see on the windows quick launch bar. (Which was something I indeed appreciated in Windows.) Sure they’re not labeled, but just by running your mouse over them you get a label, in fact if you have magnification on you even get a bigger icon to get a look at. With the quick launch bar your only option was to hold your mouse over it and wait for a tool tip to pop up. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to change a file’s icon, in fact there are plenty of nice icon packs floating around. Now the idea of having label color show up on icons in the dock.. I think that would be nice really. But aside from that note I just personally disagree with the guy.
If someone hates the Dock, that’s subjective and that’s fine. But this guy is saying that it is a FACT that the Dock sucks and everyone who likes it is an idiot.
It’s his opinion that “the Dock sucks”, I’ll agree.
However, the stuff he’s listed is, factually, Bad(tm) and no amount of workarounds – either from learned behaviour or additional software – will change that.
I can understand not liking it in preference, but declare it generally bad for everyone seems rather arrogant and pig-headed.
The things he listed aren’t matters of preference, they’re demonstrably, identifiably, flaws in the operation and design.
The “sucks” part is opinion and preference, but things like the Dock’s inefficient use of space and the way icons on it move around without user intervention are Bad.
You can shrink the dock down, and no the icons aren’t impossible to recognize then. In fact they’re about the same size as the icons you’d see on the windows quick launch bar.
This is true from the perspective of quick-launching applications, but not for anything else. You’ll notice that on the Taskbar, while the quick launch icons have no labels, all the document/application window icons do.
Sure they’re not labeled, but just by running your mouse over them you get a label, in fact if you have magnification on you even get a bigger icon to get a look at.
Having to “scrub” to find something is the symptom of the problem.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to change a file’s icon, in fact there are plenty of nice icon packs floating around.
Except you can’t do it to documents…
But aside from that note I just personally disagree with the guy.
Lots of people do (including me on some things), but most of them here are just calling him names, or listing their workarounds to the various flaws he’s outlined. A workaround does not eliminate the flaw.
I like the dock bar.
Am I the only one who finds OSX more intuitive dan OS9? Or at the very least allot more productive.. One click to switch programs instead of two clicks (or a drag-click which ends up taking the same amount of time). One click to start my favorite programs, instead of again, 2 clicks. And in OS9 these two concepts a users uses *all* the time, are hidden away in the menubar.
In OSX those two concepts are atleast very central and very visible.
I also don’t get what’s so great about the OS9 finder.. A pain in the ass to navigate if you ask me. The click-and-drag trick opens all windows except the one you want if you are using a trackpad..
The single window, playlist paradigm is allot quicker to navigate, and personally I think it is not very difficult, and pretty consistent. The playlist paradigm is used in itunes, iphoto, allot of websites, the addressbook,…
“Am I the only one who finds OSX more intuitive dan OS9? Or at the very least allot more productive.. One click to switch programs instead of two clicks (or a drag-click which ends up taking the same amount of time). One click to start my favorite programs, instead of again, 2 clicks. And in OS9 these two concepts a users uses *all* the time, are hidden away in the menubar.
In OSX those two concepts are atleast very central and very visible. ”
Nope, you’re not the only one. I actually can’t stand the OS 9 gui because of this very reason — application switching. This is so trivial in Mac OS X, but in OS 9 most people don’t even realize that the program switcher is even there. I know I didn’t at first. It’s just a remnant of being designed in the days before many applications were run simultaneously.
Creating new shortcuts to programs is easy and intuitive in Mac OS X,
but the classic Mac OS approach of editing menus is something that normal people just don’t do — it’s why people never use bookmarks in most web browsers and why Windows users have tons of icons all over their desktop instead of in the quick launch bar or the start menu. Mac users also frequently use the desktop instead of sorting things. It’s just easier for them that way. And the dock takes that approach and makes it slick and organized. Dragging something to the dock and putting it where you want it is something that normal people can understand. Editing menus and creating new shortcuts, in my opinion, isn’t.
On top of that, it’s much easier to recognize icons instead of reading long lists without any graphical identifiers (as in Mac OS 7.x — are there any in Mac OS 9, I can’t even remember).
I noted that virtually all of his complaints about the dock centered around using it with documents and folders instead of actual appliations. I have to admit that I never use it for anything but applications because the finder gets me to my projects plenty fast. I thought some of his complaints were valid, but he clearly uses the dock much differently than I do.
Yes, he did. In Classic MacOS.
I used Classic. I didn’t like it. The problem is his writing style suggests that he considers his critique of OS X and OS9 “fact” and not “one user’s opinion” (which is all it is – his resume notwithstanding).
I can provide one basic answer to all your other objections:
The dock was not meant to be a perfect tool that can adapt to any possible user’s preferences and able to accomplish any task. The fact that you want it to be this way does not make it a fact that it sucks.
OS9 got to the point where it was ridiculous how many little things there were and features you could play with.
That’s obviously not what Jobs wants. Apple’s business strategy seems to be making simple, somewhat powerful products and allow others to make add-ons. This is true of a software and hardware.
Frankly, I don’t care that you don’t like the dock. Lots of people don’t. But don’t try spouting opinion as fact. That’s arrogrant as hell.
I disagree with most of the points. To me it sounds too much like the people who want all the System 9 features which they were used to. I’m primarily an X user but recently I’ve abandoned virtual desktops and I’ve given up trying to track hotkey combinations.
I don’t like the windows taskbar, its too inflexible and too disorganised. Even the ancient twm window managers were better (Although they were a pain to configure)
To me the Dock is usable, I don’t hide it because I really don’t need every pixel of desktop space. I find that expose in the context of the smallish Mac desktop is a far better than any application menu. I wouldn’t use a delay on expose although I understand that other that don’t use it as a replacement for the dodgy application menu probably would want it. Size isn’t a problem because for me its only populated with easily reconisable icons for new applications.
So much of this article sounds like its from a user that works one way and won’t change. This is not uncommon, generally changing desktops is done on a personal timeline. It’s not something that happens overnight for everyone, even with a new killer feature or application.
An example of this is the complaints about the Finder windows. He wants to go back to the desktop clutter of a bazillion folder windows or the obscure (for me anyways) option click thing. To my mind this benefits no one. For either power or novice users I’d rather the Finder as it is implemented now.
As for the dock bar I find it awkward for window management, but its combination of application launcher and application chooser it cool. I can bring up a new application or the already running version with the same action. A nice menu listing the windows of an application would be nice, but I generally use expose for that.
In short, I disagree with most the reviews points. I’m glad that OSX is very different to System 9.
I used Classic. I didn’t like it. The problem is his writing style suggests that he considers his critique of OS X and OS9 “fact” and not “one user’s opinion” (which is all it is – his resume notwithstanding).
The things he’s listed are facts, as are the reasons they’re bad. It’s his opinion that the sum total of this is “the Dock sucks”..
I can provide one basic answer to all your other objections:
The dock was not meant to be a perfect tool that can adapt to any possible user’s preferences and able to accomplish any task. The fact that you want it to be this way does not make it a fact that it sucks.
That’s not an answer, it’s a cop out. And, again, the issue isn’t whether or not the Dock can adapt to every user’s possible preferences, it’s about addressing the demonstratable problems that are there.
That’s obviously not what Jobs wants. Apple’s business strategy seems to be making simple, somewhat powerful products and allow others to make add-ons. This is true of a software and hardware.
You forgot the final part about them copying those cool little addons or buying out the people who write them. That is, by the way, exactly what happened with Classic MacOS.
Frankly, I don’t care that you don’t like the dock. Lots of people don’t. But don’t try spouting opinion as fact. That’s arrogrant as hell.
I’m not, he’s not.
Step1:
Hide the dock if you’re on an ibook (or any display = 1024×768).
Alternatively; If you’re on any widescreen aspect ratio position it on the left or right instead of the bottom.
Step 2:
Install Launchbar
Step 3:
If you’ve hidden the dock install one of the multitude of konfabuator widgets which will display your new e-mail message count (compensates for not being able to see the mail icon in the dock)
Step 4:
Enjoy and be productive instead of complaining.
Cheers!
The things he’s listed are facts, as are the reasons they’re bad. It’s his opinion that the sum total of this is “the Dock sucks”..
The features he listed are facts. Whether they are “problems” or “flaws” is not fact. Nothing has been “proven” here.
That’s not an answer, it’s a cop out. And, again, the issue isn’t whether or not the Dock can adapt to every user’s possible preferences, it’s about addressing the demonstratable problems that are there.
It’s this incessant argument that it is a fact that there are “problems” that leads me to say you’re being arrogant. An argument is different from a fact. Do you get it yet? Nothing has been “proven” here.
You forgot the final part about them copying those cool little addons or buying out the people who write them. That is, by the way, exactly what happened with Classic MacOS.
So far with OS X that’s only happened with Sherlock to my knowledge. They haven’t bought any of the haxies. They haven’t bought any of the iLife add-ons. They haven’t bought any of the iPod peripherals. And if they do turn OS X into a bloated mess like OS 9 (my opinion, not fact) I’ll probably switch to something else.
ps. Are you really a Phd? That would explain a lot!
Hated the Classic OS application switcher. The dock lets me put all my most used applications where I can get to them at anytime from any program and can see at a glance which ones I have running.
On both my OS X machines I have the following desktop setup:
Dock on Left, fairly small, minimal magnification. Most commonly used apps only. 2ndary applications and drives in a neat line of icons on right of desktop. Need to get to an 2ndary application? Minimise current window to the dock or resize window. Not a problem.
I only put what I use in the dock. Keeps it mightily uncluttered.
The things he listed aren’t matters of preference, they’re demonstrably, identifiably, flaws in the operation and design.
That’s just it, I was saying that I don’t see them as flaws at all.
This is true from the perspective of quick-launching applications, but not for anything else. You’ll notice that on the Taskbar, while the quick launch icons have no labels, all the document/application window icons do.
This is true, I guess it doesn’t come up as an issue to me since I tend to not minimize that often with expose but I can see that as an issue.
Having to “scrub” to find something is the symptom of the problem.
In the case of quick launch apps I’d see it as only being needed until people learned what icons where what.
Except you can’t do it to documents…
Since when? I chance document and folder icons all the time.
Lots of people do (including me on some things), but most of them here are just calling him names, or listing their workarounds to the various flaws he’s outlined. A workaround does not eliminate the flaw.
Name calling doesn’t accomplish anything. However a lot of these “workarounds” are also features built into the OS already. Most users I’ve met will customize their desktop at least a little bit.
Dock on Left, fairly small, minimal magnification. Most commonly used apps only. 2ndary applications and drives in a neat line of icons on right of desktop. Need to get to an 2ndary application?
Press F11
🙂
The features he listed are facts. Whether they are “problems” or “flaws” is not fact. Nothing has been “proven” here.
It’s this incessant argument that it is a fact that there are “problems” that leads me to say you’re being arrogant. An argument is different from a fact. Do you get it yet? Nothing has been “proven” here.
I’ll summarise what he’s said. Note that because these issues can be “worked around” does not discount the fact that they are problems. If they weren’t problems, there would be no need to work around them.
9. The Dock is a big feature that sucks up a lot of screen space, essentially making an entire edge of the screen useless. “Clumsy”, I’ll agree, is opinion. It’s a *problem* because it doesn’t offer anything extra to compensate for that additional screen space, and the workaround (hiding it) is poorly implemented, less functional and imposes a greater physical and mental workload on the user.
7 & 8. Problems because they make distinguishing objects at a glance impossible.
6. Problem because it is inconsistent with other aspects of the GUI.
5. The “belongs in the corner” part is opinion, I’ll agree – but the underlying issues here that he’s driving at are a) stuff in the Dock *moves* and b) something like the Trash should always be in the same place. These are problems because they increase user workload and decrease user efficiency.
4. This is a consequence of #9 and #5. If the Dock is hidden and you’ve been starting/stopping/minimising/restoring things, then you don’t know where anything is until it reappears. It’s a problem because it slows the user down and increases their workload.
3. Once again touching on #9, but from a different aspect, that of the inefficiency of how the Dock uses screen space. This is not so much about physical size, but the way that you also essentially lose all the space directly to each side (or above and below for those who put the Dock on the left or right) because the Dock grows as things are added to it and can grow over anything placed there. Also when the Dock is hidden, it uses up a large strip of the side of the screen, when all it really needs it a 1×1 pixel space in the corner.
2. A problem because useful and powerful UI elements were eliminated *and not sufficiently replaced*. This one leans more towards opinion I’ll agree.
1. This is a problem because the behaviour is inconsistent (hence unpredictable) and to compound the problem, destructive. Unpredictable, destructive behaviour is about the worst thing a UI can do.
So far with OS X that’s only happened with Sherlock to my knowledge. They haven’t bought any of the haxies. They haven’t bought any of the iLife add-ons. They haven’t bought any of the iPod peripherals. And if they do turn OS X into a bloated mess like OS 9 (my opinion, not fact) I’ll probably switch to something else.
Give it time. As a released product OS X is pretty young (even more so if you’re like me and consider 10.3 – or maybe 10.2 – the first version worthy of a “release” tag).
ps. Are you really a Phd? That would explain a lot!
Are you really a DJ ? That would explain a lot.
That’s just it, I was saying that I don’t see them as flaws at all.
You don’t see indistinguishable icons as a flaw ?
You don’t see UI elements (particularly ones that should remain static) moving around ?
You don’t see inconsistent and destructive UI behaviour as a flaw ?
In the case of quick launch apps I’d see it as only being needed until people learned what icons where what.
The biggest aspect of this problem isn’t to do with icons being used to quick launch things, it’s with icons that represent folders and minimised windows.
Since when? I chance document and folder icons all the time.
Does it make the minimised icon for that document change as well ? (Although even that’s ignoring that most users don’t even know how to change their document icons, let alone actually do it).
If you rarely, if ever, minimise things and basically only use the Dock as a quick launcher and program switcher then several of these problems won’t apply to you, or their impact will be lessened.
Name calling doesn’t accomplish anything. However a lot of these “workarounds” are also features built into the OS already.
That’s not the issue, the issue is these things need to be “worked around” _at all_.
Most users I’ve met will customize their desktop at least a little bit.
Er, I don’t think customisation is relevant to this discussion ?
I have about 8 major aps that I usee all the time ie: photoshop/illustrator/freehand etc. and all the rest I access through either the app folder in the dock or through LaunchBar.
Um, there are lots of shareware programs available that allow that sort of thing.
You’re missing the point. Tog is talking about defects in default behavior. He’s not saying they’re unsolvable problems, and in some cases he actually points to people who have solved the problem better than Apple did.
This is exactly the sort of criticism Apple needs, so that they can improve the Dock.
Tog always (or at least frequently) writes from the perspective of a newbie who is first using the system. He has a sharp eye for the sort of counter-intuitive behavior that frustrates users and hinders productivity. Do you people really think the average Mac newbie is going to search for shareware to get around these flaws, or are they more likely to complain about the flaws?
I love the dock myself, but that does’t mean there isn’t room for improvement, nor does it mean it doesn’t suck. I’ve been using computers for two decades now, and almost all of his complaints have annoyed me in my last two and a half years as an OS X user. Tog is dead on.
I value the fact that the trash is always visible more than it being in the same place.
On my windows machine the trash can is in the same place all of the time, but I still have to look for it when dragging files. I don’t have to hunt for it, but I do have to spot it with my eye (I can’t just jam the mouse in the direction it should be).
With the can in the dock it’s always in the same place vertically, so you only have to look for it horizontally (which is made easy by the fact that it’s always at the far end of the dock).
On the other hand, having it on the desktop means I have to plan ahead before dragging something to the trash and make sure nothing is obstructing it.
Why is Tog THE MAN?
(1) Because he is one of the foremost experts on what makes for good UI design.
(2) Because even when I disagree with him, I have to admit that he has a good, reasoned argument — sometime better than my own.
(3) The article on the dock is another one of those good, reasoned arguments. Pointing to the existence “workarounds” does not change the fact that flaws exist.
I enjoy using the dock. Is that a problem?
I enjoy using the dock, too. Does that mean I can’t say it sucks, on the occasions that it does?
Be like Microsoft and just add some ugly skins once and a while.
They already did; it’s called brushed metal ;-P
Sure they’re not labeled, but just by running your mouse over them you get a label, in fact if you have magnification on you even get a bigger icon to get a look at.
That’s actually Tog’s point. He refers to that as “mouse scrubbing”, and one of the reasons the dock sucks is that it makes you do it a lot. The user shouldn’t have to do that to identify which icon points to which folder/file/whatever.
Am I the only one who finds OSX more intuitive dan OS9?
No. I hated OS9. It was the result of a poor legacy OS design (esp. no real multitasking).
But that doesn’t mean the dock doesn’t suck.
The dock was not meant to be a perfect tool that can adapt to any possible user’s preferences and able to accomplish any task.
That’s not actually clear. One of the principles of UI design is that the tool should conform as much as possible to how the person thinks, and should require the person to do as little conforming as possible to an alien way of thinking. IMHO that’s what Tog’s slamming the Dock for: these problems are things that Apple would have worked out, had they bothered to keep this principle in mind.
So much of this article sounds like its from a user that works one way and won’t change.
Hmm, that would explain his praise for Exposé.
This is exactly the sort of criticism Apple needs, so that they can improve the Dock.
Some criticism could be useful to Apple so they can improve things. The following are things I think could be reasonably added to the current design of the dock:
5. Trash can
This could be a setting (trash can in the dock or on the desktop). It probably wouldn’t confuse too many people and would eliminate the need for a haxie.
4. Location unpredictable
This can be somewhat mitigated by pinning the dock to one side (which is available with a haxie). But I think this only marginally changes things since the dock resizes anyway.
1. Poof
The only thing I can suggest here is the MS tactic of having a dialog with a “dont show this again” option that tells the user they aren’t really deleting anything. Based on my experience with novices this is not a problem but others might differ.
The following are things I think would be very difficult to add to the dock with its current design:
9. Permanent labels are too big and the icon size is a user setting. Not much more can be done here.
8 & 7. Minimized window handling needs some kind of text identifier but that requires lots of space or hovering. It’s a no-win. Icons can be chosen by the user for permanent items at least.
6. Apple chose to handle labels differently. Frankly I don’t want Apple messing with the colors of the icon I chose. What *would* be nice is if the label showed up in the dock hover text. That’s a little of an oops.
3. Using any graphical method you’re just going to run out of room eventually unless you segregate the items into different panels (or something). But that is just a totally different design and removes some of the usefulness built into the dock. It’s just a design decision, that’s all.
Things that are irrelevant:
2. It’s just his opinion.
I’ll summarise what he’s said. Note that because these issues can be “worked around” does not discount the fact that they are problems. If they weren’t problems, there would be no need to work around them.
That’s a circular argument.
The rest certainly contained some good arguments. In fact, I almost agree with some of them. But they are still just your opinions. Many of those “problems” are simply just design decisions that required trade-offs.
You are correct that some of the things can only be changed by using hidden features or 3rd party tools.
But I think its silly to look at the dock as a tool by itself outside of the context of the rest of the system.
Folders can be differentiated by giving them icons. This is a feature of the system. One might argue that one purpose of that feature was to enable the dock to display them differently.
Minimized windows from the same app all look the same….if that app chooses not to display them differently. I have an app open right now called iView Media Pro 2. Minimized icons for that app show a small thumbnail of the library. They are usually very easy to distinguish from one another. Simply put, this is a problem with Word, not with the dock. And it is worth pointing out that no other OS has solved this problem well. It can be a problem. But its not a problem with the dock. The design decision (getting back to that) was simply to trust the application to show something meaningful.
The dock was also designed to handle many tasks at once:
1) application launcher
2) active application list
3) shortcuts
4) application status display
5) minimized windows
Some might argue that too much was included into the dock. You may agree or disagree with this but it did result in some tough design decisions.
So you may not like it that it contains minimized windows. But, once it does, it needs to resize, for instance. That necessitates a “problem” as you put it.
With the can in the dock it’s always in the same place vertically, so you only have to look for it horizontally (which is made easy by the fact that it’s always at the far end of the dock).
Now think about how much easier it would be if the Dock was anchored in the bottom left (or right) hand corner and that’s where the Trash was. Then all you’d have to do is throw the mouse into the corner.
I disagree that the Trash should be on the Desktop. However, I agree that it (along with some other elements in the Dock) should be fixed in one place on the screen, always.
That’s a circular argument.
The rest certainly contained some good arguments. In fact, I almost agree with some of them. But they are still just your opinions. Many of those “problems” are simply just design decisions that required trade-offs.
No, they aren’t, because they aren’t “trading off” against anything.
Things like moving UI elements increasing user workload and target acquisition times are *measurable*. The factors the affect those times are *identifiable*. That means when a UI element is designed in such a way to *negatively affect* these things, while offering no *user benefit*, it is a problem. Not a feature. A problem.
These sorts of things are known in the UI field. Tog knows them. The fact that the Dock’s autohiding implementation is inefficient, increases user error and increases user workload isn’t an opinion, it’s a demonstratable, measurable (if someone wants to do it) fact. It’s simple cause and effect and the principle has loads of experimental data behind it. Just like the fact that Expose will be much faster at switching between windows (on average) than something like the Taskbar ever will be.
But I think its silly to look at the dock as a tool by itself outside of the context of the rest of the system.
I agree, and these things remain problems.
Minimized windows from the same app all look the same….if that app chooses not to display them differently. I have an app open right now called iView Media Pro 2. Minimized icons for that app show a small thumbnail of the library.
Yes, other programs do that too. Some of them, like Quicktime Player and Terminal, even have the thumbnail update “live” (or certainly used to). The problem is that many types of windows, when minimised to a 32×32 thumbnail, look identical anyway. It would probably be a problem even if the icons still weren’t generic (the Dock’s scaling effect can be used to kludge around it, too).
The dock was also designed to handle many tasks at once:
1) application launcher
2) active application list
3) shortcuts
4) application status display
5) minimized windows
Yes, this is the source of the problems, as was pointed out years ago when it first appeared. Basically, the Dock tries to do too much. It’s a camel.
You may agree or disagree with this but it did result in some tough design decisions.
Yes, and it’s the decisions that were made – often unnecessarily – that people like Tog are complaining about.
Yes, this is the source of the problems, as was pointed out years ago when it first appeared. Basically, the Dock tries to do too much. It’s a camel.
so then the argument really isn’t:
the dock does things poorly AND these things can be fixed with design changes
it’s:
the dock should be broken up into multiple UI elements
Well, that’s a design decision. And that’s where the trade off comes in:
– include all the UI elements together and have some drawbacks (like it will change size)
OR
– put the UI elements separately and have some drawbacks (like having to look in different places for different things)
So, yes, you can have a trade-off. The inherent “problem” that requires the trade-off is that there is no perfect UI control (or set of controls).
But, honestly, many of the things that you and he complain “remain problems” have not had solutions proposed. This is primarily noted in the area of identical icons. No 3rd party tool handles this better than OS X (and the dock). No other OS handles this better than OS X. No one has proposed any ideas here or on Tog’s page that is a better idea. It’s one thing to complain…..but it doesn’t mean much unless you can suggest something better.
Drawers are widely misused in OS X. I couldn’t agree more with him. He stated it perfectly. The problem is that the “tail wags the dog.” Drawers are not designed to be in control of the main window, and thus necessary to be present all the time. SO many applications misuse them to navigate the main window, and the result is irritating at best.
According to the Apple HIG, “drawers provide additional functionality,” and that drawers should be used for controls “that don’t need to be visible all the time.” (http://developer.apple.com/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/…).
This may seem minor to some, but I did a writeup about the interface problems found in misuse of these controls. (Admittedly, it was amateurish, and only supported by the HIG, and my subjective impressions, but I highlighted some of the problems, and inconsistencies in using drawers for this purpose, and how this not only is explicit misuse of the control, but why using these controls in the wrong way conflicts with many of the other principles laid out by the HIG.)
I sometimes find it confusing when I use exposé, or minimize a lot of documents to the dock. I do a lot of work out of TextEdit, and when I hit the exposé key, I see 9 or 10 windows shrink that all look the same. What ever happened to “a word is worth a thousand pictures?” Why can’t we have the windows labeled (dock items ALL labeled upon mouse-over, too) when we press F9, or F10?
You don’t see indistinguishable icons as a flaw ?
You don’t see UI elements (particularly ones that should remain static) moving around ?
You don’t see inconsistent and destructive UI behaviour as a flaw ?
No, I said I don’t see those at all. I stated originally that I don’t think the icons are indistinguishable. If they’re not then lo and behold, no flaw. I also should state that I don’t see the dock moving around to be a problem either. It’s one thing to state that you think the moving around to be bad, it’s another to state that it should be static. Unless you’ve got a Ph.D and a case study directly supporting you that you can reference, you’re simply stating a personal preference. I also think that the dock poof is cute, and I think most users would assume that as well. As for the issue of them thinking the program’s gone. I honestly can’t think of a solution. That very well may be the case, however it seems no different than users that think if you delete a program’s icon off the desktop then it’s gone as well.
The biggest aspect of this problem isn’t to do with icons being used to quick launch things, it’s with icons that represent folders and minimised windows.
Folder icons can be changed. Minimized window icons normally look like that window.
Does it make the minimised icon for that document change as well ? (Although even that’s ignoring that most users don’t even know how to change their document icons, let alone actually do it).
Answered that up above. And really, I’ve never encountered any system in which the user didn’t have to at least learn a little bit to be fully productive on it.
That’s not the issue, the issue is these things need to be “worked around” _at all_.
So you’re telling me that every user in the world is going to expect the interface of their computer to behave the exact same way all across the board?
Er, I don’t think customisation is relevant to this discussion ?
See above please.
No, I said I don’t see those at all. I stated originally that I don’t think the icons are indistinguishable.
Well, what you think is irrelevant, because the simple fact is they *are* identical unless the user goes out of their way to customise them. A discussion about the UI after some advanced user has spent months customising and changing the default behaviour is rather pointless.
Added to that, a good UI shouldn’t *need* that level of customisation to be useful.
I also should state that I don’t see the dock moving around to be a problem either. It’s one thing to state that you think the moving around to be bad, it’s another to state that it should be static. Unless you’ve got a Ph.D and a case study directly supporting you that you can reference, you’re simply stating a personal preference.
Well, I don’t keep links to this sort of thing hanging around, and my old textbooks are in storage, but even some quick research into UI principles should turn up some data on user timings with regards to static and moving targets. It’s a fairly fundamental principal, just like the list of quickest places on screen to access is (the current cursor position, bottom-left corner, top-left corner, top-right corner, bottom-left corner then the sides in the same order). This sort of stuff has been measured.
You don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to, but there’s a great deal of experimental data from Apple, Microsoft and others that details this sort of stuff, if you want to spend the time researching the topic (which is actually pretty interesting).
Heck, even _without_ data, just think about it – what is easier and quicker to hit, an icon that’s always in the same place or an icon that often changes position ?
Pinning the Dock into one corner and putting the Trash at the end that’s pinned would be a reasonable solution to the Trash issue. Wouldn’t help with minimised windows moving, however.
I also think that the dock poof is cute, and I think most users would assume that as well.
I think it’s cute as well, however, that’s not the issue. Like he said, it’s for demoing to customers, not helping users.
Also remember, it’s not the “poof” that’s the problem, it’s the underlying behaviour.
As for the issue of them thinking the program’s gone. I honestly can’t think of a solution.
How about treating file/object drag & drop the same way they do everywhere else [0] – including how the icon got onto the Dock in the first place ? If the user wants to delete something from the Dock, they drag it to the Trash. If they drag it to the Desktop then move the icon to the Desktop, just like it would move if they dragged it from a Finder window to the Desktop.
[0] With the exception of some applications’ toolbar customisation methods, which are broken in the same way. It’s also marginally more acceptable when customising a toolbar, as that requires and obvious “modality change”, so the user can reasonably be expected to anticipate different behaviour.
That very well may be the case, however it seems no different than users that think if you delete a program’s icon off the desktop then it’s gone as well.
There’s a *massive* difference between a deliberate act of deletion and an inconsistent, unexpected, accidental act of deletion. When a user deletes a program’s icon off the Desktop, they’ve made a deliberate choice to delete it. When a user drags an icon off the Dock the same way they drag icons between windows, or dragged it onto the Dock, a completely different – and destructive – result is *bad*.
Classic MacOS had a similar problem when dragging things from removable media to the Desktop. Since the file itself was still located on the media, but in a hidden “Desktop” directory, when the media was ejected (or, worse, formatted) the files disappeared (or were erased). So did older versions of Windows with their complicated “dragging rules”, where the result depended on both the object type and source location. Same principal – an identical action producing inconsistent and unexpected results, depending on where it was used.
Folder icons can be changed. Minimized window icons normally look like that window.
a) It requires user intervention.
b) Most users don’t know how (and won’t bother to find out).
c) Working around a problem doesn’t fix it.
Does it make the minimised icon for that document change as well ? (Although even that’s ignoring that most users don’t even know how to change their document icons, let alone actually do it).
Answered that up above. And really, I’ve never encountered any system in which the user didn’t have to at least learn a little bit to be fully productive on it.
I’m still not clear if modifying a random document’s icon as displayed by the Finder carries over to when that document’s open window is minimised (if not, the problem is exacerbated).
Also, there’s a difference between “learning how to use something” and “learning how to circumvent things that are broken”.
So you’re telling me that every user in the world is going to expect the interface of their computer to behave the exact same way all across the board?
No, I’m saying people shouldn’t be forced to work around UI flaws.
Er, I don’t think customisation is relevant to this discussion ?
See above please.
I still don’t think its relevant. “Customisation” to enhance productivity and “customisation” (aka “problem workarounds) to circumvent UI flaws are very different things. Dressing a workaround up as “customisation” is being rather disingenuous.
Maybe the reason Tog is so critical of Apple is because Apple has tossed out 20 years of research into computer-human interfaces. I mean, there are no less than three different GUI themes shipping with Apple products, Aqua-striped, brushed metal, and hardwood Oak. Oak? WTF is the deal with Oak?
I am a firm believer that you should use whatever works best for you. I personally like Linux with Gnome, and that’s what I am using on my iBook to get my work done. If you are a OSX/Aqua fan, more power to you. My biggest dislike of OSX is the gloomy brushed metal theme that all apps seem to use now. It reminds me of the dark gray windows in Windows 95.
Quattro
There’s a *massive* difference between a deliberate act of deletion and an inconsistent, unexpected, accidental act of deletion.
I would like to hear how many times this actually comes up. It’s one thing to argue from the position of “logical purity”. But real programmers (and problem-solvers in general) tend to care about only fixing things that have actually been demonstrated to be a problem. And that involves studies of real people (you know, focus groups). Why waste time and money (and piss people off) “fixing” a problem if no user actually had a problem with it – especially if there is a valid usability reason for the behavior (for instance, I would be pissed if a shortcut got dragged off the dock when I moved something off of it – it simply would waste my time having to delete it).
Also, there’s a difference between “learning how to use something” and “learning how to circumvent things that are broken”.
I agree. Right now you are asserting the latter with only the support of an argument – no proof. I am arguing for the former.
And I am still waiting to hear the “fix” for
1) default icons have identical appearance
2) minimized windows under control of the application look too similar
So far I see system fixes for those
1) change icon in the finder
2a) expose
2b) realizing that the application has to be responsible for its display and this is not a flaw in the dock
I am still waiting for your dock fixes
After reading the first page.. im sorry but i couldnt read the rest of the posts.. there was a couple of ppl talking sence but most were saying absolutly pathetic justifications that arent even on the point.
The point is we are talking about the DOC bar.. the one that comes with OSX .. not all these addsons u can use.
The windows start bar is better than the OSX DOc. Mac users refuse to accept this, just accept it and move on .. or provide a decent argument..
If i was to compare windows to osx.. do i get to include every one of the zillions of windows programs and claim its pratcially the same as being included with the OS?
GUI Themes are off topic.
The windows start bar is better than the OSX DOc. Mac users refuse to accept this, just accept it and move on .. or provide a decent argument..
provide a decent argument. Hmmm! Good idea. Where is yours?
what so few people realize is that tog (and the firm he works for, nielsen-jakob) is a bunch of loud-mouths who built their reputations on nazi ideas about UI design, as if they suit everybody and as if they hold the absolute truth; for one, i do read their reports every now and then, and find myself often disagreeing with them. this is my opinion of course, if one likes what they throw around, fine, whatever rocks your boat, but they sure have a strong tendency to call for simplification (and in turn over-simplification as a result) like users are so dumb and hopeless (how are they supposed to take the learning curve at some point if everything they interact with is made with the mind of a 2 y/o as a target)
Speaking of people not making sense….
Writing “accept it” doesn’t make what you said a fact. The fact is that a great number of people find the dock easier to use and more useful than the windows task bar.
Thankfully you are not the arbiter of whether something is a decent argument (or decent spelling) or not.
I am amazed at all of the “strange” arguments for and against the dock. There is no way that any human could design anything that meets 100% acceptance and applause for the design. Yet I am reading, in this forum, that the dock has flaws. Yes, even destructive flaws. I must assume that the destructive flaws remove items without user authorization or the system crashes, etc.
If you do not like the way the Dock works there are simple, OS provided, alternatives. The Dock cannot ever be all things to all people. I would recommend that some time be spent reading the various methods (shortcuts) for what is percieved to be a “flaw” in something.
The trash can discussion is typical of this type of “flaw”. Why insist that one must drag things to the trash can. Couldn’t you just Ctrl-Click the desired icon and opt to “move to trash”? Then you do not have to worry about where you hid the trash can.
I can’t agree with you. Few people realise that because a lot of people realise that Tog built his reputation on designing a GUI that is until today a reference. The nazi ideas are the result of experience and reflexion, and most, if not all, have not been refuted yet. Those who don’t agree with them have yet to propose something better.
They do not call for simplification like users are dumb and hopeless: their call for simplification is in fact a call for useability and productivity (remind me of the old prejudice in some regions of Europe against automatic transmission: this is for stupid men, this is for women, etc).
The trash can discussion is typical of this type of “flaw”. Why insist that one must drag things to the trash can. Couldn’t you just Ctrl-Click the desired icon and opt to “move to trash”? Then you do not have to worry about where you hid the trash can.
Perfectly right! I have worked years without any trash can on my desktop.
I apologize. The provided OS X keyboard command is Cmd-Del to move an item to the trash and not Ctrl-click. The latter is provided by a third part application.
Are you sure? I believe I have always seen that in the contextual menu!
Btw, on my keyboard, the shortcut is Cmd-Backspace to move an item to the trash (keyboard fr)
You are correct. The “Delete” and typewriter “Backspace” are one and the same keys. They are both located below the F11 and F12 keys or on the right side of the keyboard letters two rows above the “RETURN” key.
There is no way that any human could design anything that meets 100% acceptance and applause for the design.
No-one’s saying they can, they’re just pointing out flaws that should have been known about and never appeared in the first place.
Yet I am reading, in this forum, that the dock has flaws. Yes, even destructive flaws. I must assume that the destructive flaws remove items without user authorization or the system crashes, etc.
No, it means the UI does something destructive (eg: irretrievably deletes an icon from the Dock). In and of itself, this isn’t bad – after all, how else would you delete files – the problem is it does this in an inconsistent and unexpected manner.
If you do not like the way the Dock works there are simple, OS provided, alternatives.
The issue isn’t alternatives, it’s flaws. Cmd+Delete is an alternative method of deleting files. Having to work around icons rearranging themselves on the Dock is a flaw.
I would recommend that some time be spent reading the various methods (shortcuts) for what is percieved to be a “flaw” in something.
I’ve been using OS X since the Public Beta. Tog has probably been using it since before it was even called OS X. I daresay he’s got a rough idea about the shortcuts that are available – I know I do.
Once again, the problem isn’t the presence (or lack thereof) of shortcuts, it’s out and out problems in the way the thing operates.
The trash can discussion is typical of this type of “flaw”. Why insist that one must drag things to the trash can.
No-one’s “insisting” people drag things to the Trash to delete them, we’re just pointing out that if you do a non-static Trash location makes this operation more difficult than it needs to be. This isn’t a personal preference, it’s a fact.
Couldn’t you just Ctrl-Click the desired icon and opt to “move to trash”? Then you do not have to worry about where you hid the trash can.
You could, but a well positioned Trash (ie: in a corner) would be faster. The delete key is a much better “shortcut”.
so then the argument really isn’t:
the dock does things poorly AND these things can be fixed with design changes
it’s:
the dock should be broken up into multiple UI elements
Actually it’s both. The Dock does things poorly that could be fixed by design and implementation changes *AND* it should be broken up into multiple elements.
There are two underlying issues here. Firstly, that the Dock sucks because it tries to do too much and in doing that, ends up being mediocre at everything instead of really good at one or two things. The second is, that even after allowing for that, some of the things it does are implemented badly. For example, its orientation at the centre of the screen, while it looks cool and symmetrical, is functionally deficient compared to pinning one end of it to a corner.
Well, that’s a design decision. And that’s where the trade off comes in:
Yes, a *bad* design decision – that’s the whole point we’re trying to make.
[i]- include all the UI elements together and have some drawbacks (like it will change size)
OR
– put the UI elements separately and have some drawbacks (like having to look in different places for different things)
Looking in different places for different things is not necessarily a drawback. Do you keep your milk in your filing cabinet ?
As I said, the Dock could semi-fix one of its main problems by rearranging the default icons and being fixed in a corner instead of centre-oriented.
So, yes, you can have a trade-off. The inherent “problem” that requires the trade-off is that there is no perfect UI control (or set of controls).
There are, however, well known, well understood and experimentally measured principles and guidelines that define what makes up *good* UI controls. The Dock violates these by a) trying to do too much (mixing disparate functions) and b) implementing the things it does do, badly.
But, honestly, many of the things that you and he complain “remain problems” have not had solutions proposed. This is primarily noted in the area of identical icons.
One solution that springs to mind is for each application to have a “Windows” menu and for windows to “minimise” into it and disappear from the screen. So instead of having a bunch of minimised icons in the Dock, you have a bunch of hidden windows listed in a menu.
No 3rd party tool handles this better than OS X (and the dock). No other OS handles this better than OS X.
Actually, the Taskbar handles it marginally better by having a permanent “tile” present on the Taskbar for nearly all windows and by having visible text labels on those tiles.
I would like to hear how many times this actually comes up. It’s one thing to argue from the position of “logical purity”. But real programmers (and problem-solvers in general) tend to care about only fixing things that have actually been demonstrated to be a problem. And that involves studies of real people (you know, focus groups).
Well, you’d need either access to Apple’s internal testing results or enough resources to do your own if you want that type of proof.
Why waste time and money (and piss people off) “fixing” a problem if no user actually had a problem with it – especially if there is a valid usability reason for the behavior (for instance, I would be pissed if a shortcut got dragged off the dock when I moved something off of it – it simply would waste my time having to delete it).
So do you also get annoyed when you drag and drop icons everywhere else and they don’t magically disappear ?
Also, there’s a difference between “learning how to use something” and “learning how to circumvent things that are broken”.
I agree. Right now you are asserting the latter with only the support of an argument – no proof. I am arguing for the former.
Well, I don’t have access to the kind of documentation you seem to be wanting. I can only tell you UI design principles I know to be correct and why the Dock violates them. I’m sure you can appreciate I’m not going to spend hours – if not days – (re-)researching topics just to win an argument on OSNews
.
And I am still waiting to hear the “fix” for
1) default icons have identical appearance
2) minimized windows under control of the application look too similar
An option that springs immediately to mind is not have windows minimise to icons in the Dock at all, but have them hide and be accessible from a “Windows” menu within the application (or possibly a global “Windows” menu, grouped by application).
So far I see system fixes for those
1) change icon in the finder
2a) expose
2b) realizing that the application has to be responsible for its display and this is not a flaw in the dock
1. Is a user change, because it requires user intervention.
2a. Isn’t a fix for minimised windows, it’s an (excellent) solution for managing and switching between *displayed* windows.
2b. Still doesn’t help when minimised windows would “thumbnail” and all look identical anyway.
I am still waiting for your dock fixes
1. Change centre-orientation and pin it to a corner (bottom left is a decent candidate).
2. Move the Trash to that corner *and make sure it really is in the corner*.
3. Separate out disparate functionality.
3a. Don’t have windows minimise to the Dock, or find some way of making them instantly distinguishable (personally I can’t think of a way to do that, but I’m not much of a graphic artist).
3b. At the very least, have icon “labels” that can be assigned in the Finder carry over to the Dock.
4. Make drag & drop operations consistent with the rest of the UI.
5. Have auto-hide reduce to either a 1×1 pixel in whichever corner it is pinned to or a distinctive icon in the corner (latter is default behaviour, former an option for advanced users, possibly not easily changed).
6. Bring back tabbed folders (not directly Dock related, but would aid in fixing it).
7. Bring back windowshade (not directly Dock related, but would aid in fixing it).
8. Possibly implement a per-application or global “Windows” menu (not directly Dock related, but would aid in fixing it).
Not going to touch on the places where we’re obviously not going to agree. But I had a few points worth mentioning:
3. Separate out disparate functionality.
I actually like having it all in one place. It’s one stop shopping. I shop at Meijer (kind of like a super wal-mart). It’s nice to be able to buy bread, weed killer, and nails at the same store!!
8. Possibly implement a per-application or global “Windows” menu (not directly Dock related, but would aid in fixing it).
Most applications already have this. Every application I use has a right click (or control-click for the multiple button impaired
menu that lists all the windows for the application (shown, minimized, or hidden) plus any additional functions for the app (the four basics at least!). So I would argue that this functionality already exists.
Most applications already have this. Every application I use has a right click (or control-click for the multiple button impaired
menu that lists all the windows for the application (shown, minimized, or hidden) plus any additional functions for the app (the four basics at least!). So I would argue that this functionality already exists.
The trouble with the existing windows list on the context menu (which I do think should stay, I agree it’s quite useful), is that it’s a) probably slower than a “Windows” menu would be on average (both because of the context menu display time delay and target acquisition times) and b) it’s not obvious.
If a global “Windows” menu were going to be introduced, it would probably be best placed in one of the top corners and group the windows by application. Where the Classic “Application Menu” used to be would be ideal (I always though the “Application Menu” should have listed each application’s windows, either in a sub menu or a slightly indented list under each app).
One of the reasons Apple keeps its context menus so bare is because most users never even find them, let alone use them regularly (though this does cause needless annoyance to advanced users who do). Functionality should *never* only be exposed in something as non-obvious as a [Ctrl|Right]-click context menu. A “Windows” menu would (hopefully) be implemented *in conjunction with* the existing context menu.
The “Delete” and typewriter “Backspace” are one and the same keys
Wow! I didn’t think our keyboards were so different! I have 2 different keys for “Backspace” and “Delete”. “Backspace” is just above “Return”, below the F12 and F13 keys. “Delete” is 2 rows under F14, above the left arrow. “Backspace” delete backward, and “Delete” forward.
My opinion: the French keyboard could be better. One key is enough. It should be the “Backspace” key. And “Option”+”Backspace” should delete forward.
But all this is off topic. Sorry!