Re: New toplevel behaviour

[Michael Toomim <toomim uclink4 berkeley edu>]

Mark McLoughlin wrote:
> 	1) Autohiding hides into the corner of the screen. This change
> 	   was recommended by the usability team based on the fact the
> 	   unhiding the panel isn't any harder - you just throw the
> 	   mouse into the corner of the screen - but it makes
> 	   operations near the edge of the screen a lot less error
> 	   prone - previously you had to be careful not to go near the
> 	   hidden panel.


I don't think this would be good.  It's actually pretty hard to reach 
the corner of most desktops.  You have to move the mouse too far.

The theory goes that all users have a steep exponential mouse 
acceleration curve, and are used to flinging our mice around in 
different directions to hit the corners of the screen.  I don't think 
that either of these assumptions are true.  X11 has an awful two-gear 
acceleration scheme which makes a trip to the corner a chore, and I 
don't think that the average user moves his/her mouse above a certain 
threshold speed anyway.  Not all users are quick-draw quake-trained 
speed freak greeks -- think arthritis, slow-refresh LCD screens, 
touch-pads, and people afraid of breaking their computer equipment.

Anyway, my point is that an interface shouldn't *require* frequent 
long-distance mouse movement to accomplish basic tasks.  Fitts law can 
help in some situations -- but you can't *rely* on it if you're aiming 
for any sort of universal design.

Also...

What side of the desktop will the panel hide in?  Say I want to reach a 
tasklist on the right side of my panel, and the panel hides on the left. 
Do I have to move my mouse to the bottom-left corner of the desktop, 
wait for the panel to expand, and then move my mouse all the way across 
the screen to the right corner of the desktop to hit the tasklist?  What 
happens if I move the mouse a little too high above the panel on its 
trip from the left to the right, and the panel goes into hiding on the 
left again before I reach the tasklist?

Michael