Re: [Usability] Open Files - Search

[Thorsten Wilms <t_w_ freenet de>]

On Thu, May 24, 2007 at 10:26:39PM +1000, Matthew Fellows wrote:
> 
> With that said, i think Thorsten's design is a great improvement on the
> existing dialog as not only does it solve a) and b), it provides more -
> i.e. search - and takes up less space.
> 
> I can however, see what Matthew Thomas is saying (in regards to being
> more obvious). I think there are at least a couple things to it: 
> 
> 1) Unless you type in the location bar you won't know that it can do
> search. So many users will never even know of the feature.

If this is really an issue, a short Label in grey could be put into 
the entry until the user starts typing. Or a magnifying glass icon.

Note that my design also makes type-ahead find obsolete, currently 
the only feature to remain sanity if faced with a long list of files. 
One that can't be called discoverable at all.

 
> 2) Will it be desirable to have search results always appear when typing
> in the location bar? I think in some cases it might just be overkill or
> a waste or real estate.

Always search cuts down on the number of required widgets and steps 
one has to take and avoids additional modality. Regarding real estate, 
the list box is as large as the window/layout allows with or without 
search.


-- 
Thorsten Wilms

Thorwil's Design for Free Software:
http://thorwil.wordpress.com