[Sugar-devel] UI experiments: pop-up menus and hot corners

[Mikus Grinbergs]

>>> some current (ongoing) future design changes will remove this issue completely with a
>>> full screen screen dialogue for deciding new/resume. One click on a home view activity
>>> displays a gallery/journal like display of past work or a new blank template
> 
> Users ended up launching new activities most of the time bringing the machine
> to it's knees, filling the Journal with junk entries, and then not being able
> to find what they want when they do look in the Journal to resume something.

What this design change will do is deliberately introduce a 'pause' into
the process of launching an Activity -- to force the user to evaluate
"why am I launching?"  What I am wondering is whether "force decision
before launching" is more user-friendly than simply "launch".

If the problem is "users filling up the machine", will making it more
difficult to launch a new instance be an adequate solution ?  Will the
kid who wants to make a new drawing on Tuesday be content with resuming
the activity he used Monday -- thereby wiping his drawing from Monday ?

Forcing a decision on every launch may work -- but there still needs to
be a user-helpful way to address "I've filled up the machine" when that
happens -- for those who nevertheless persist in overusing "new launch".

[Would an "ultimate" design propose to make the machine be the master
over the user -- and employ this full screen launch dialogue to refuse
launch whenever the machine approaches "being brought to its knees" ??]

mikus


p.s.
The Journal user-interface was invented, with a "filter" capability.
Now a full screen dialogue user-interface would be duplicating what the
Journal can show.  I myself am not comfortable with duplication.