[Nautilus-list] Drag 'n drop -- was: Millicent666 lusability study results

[Ben Ford <ben kalifornia com>]

> Which way would a kid pick? I am positive the drag-and-drop approach being more tactile and experimental would be easier for a kid as well as an adult to become adapted to and proficient with.
This got me thinking about the whole drag-n-drop thing.  And while you 
weren't referring to dragging files around to move them, that has been a 
sticky issue as well.
I agree that dragging files is the best metaphor to use when moving 
them.  However, some people dislike this when dragging into the "Tree 
View" tab because the targets were too small and it was easy to drop the 
file into the wrong directory.  I think the font size in the tree was 
increased to target this problem.
I don't like that solution.  If you have ever used the tree view, you 
know that it is HUGE!!!  I hate to say it, but the tree view in GMC is 
much better looking.  I propose another solution.
Why don't we make the tree  smaller, so it will actually *fit* in a tab 
without having to scroll to see more than a few characters.  When 
somebody drags an object over the tree, the "selected" tree entry would 
dynamically resize itself larger.  This would make a larger, easier to 
hit target and would also make it very clear what directory the dropped 
object would go to.
A very simplistic HTML mockup is at:

http://www.kalifornia.com/~ben/nautilus_demo.html


(speaking of which, I really miss the ability to drag web links to the 
desktop . . . . )

-b