RE: RFP: File chooser user interface

[martyn 2 russell bt com]

> > I think DND is used a great deal more by people that realise that it
> > actually exists.  It is not obvious to first time users.  
> 
> It's not obvious to long time users either.  I've been using 
> Linux as my
> desktop since 1995, and Gnome since 1998 (version 0.13 I think?).  

True, it's not obvious at all.  Most people probably find out by mistake or
by others.

> 
> Even though I just went and tried it (with gEdit), it's not something
> I'm apt to use in the future.  Why?  The primary one is that I have no
> idea what supports it, and I know that File->Open or ^O is pretty much
> ubiquitous.

Although true, most non-technical users tend to be mouse driven users and
DND is focused around the mouse.  I am primarily a keyboard user, so
shortcuts like ^O are essential.

> 
> > I use DND a lot more than I used to, and the most typical 
> case, is when I
> > load an application, then drag the file into it.  This is 
> far quicker than
> > selecting file, open, My Documents, ..., ..., etc.
> 
> I'm not sure I see how this is easier or quicker, but that's probably
> because our work habits differ.  At least for me, dragging a 
> file would
> necessitate opening a file manager window, navigating to the file, and
> then dragging; opening a file is opening the open dialog, 
> navigating to
> the file, and then hitting okay.   
> 

Again, thinking about the non-technical user, if someone was using Gnome for
the first time, they would most likely use Nautilus to navigate the files
they would want to open, just as Windows users have explorer.  I myself use
the terminal a lot, but someone new to Gnome/Linux will not.

> You might argue that I should just keep a window open, but that leaves
> the issue of finding the damn thing.  It *may* be exposed, 
> but it might
> also be buried behind other windows.  One thing I could imagine being
> *severely* annoying is having several different file manager windows
> open in different locations because I was working on several different
> projects; in that case I would have to scan the window long enough to
> determine whether it was the one I was actually looking for.  In other
> words, the amount of work to open a file by dragging is (as 
> far as I can
> figure) fairly non-deterministic.

I absolutely agree with all your points, I am just considering those which
do not have the same insight.


Regards,
Martyn