Brainstorm

Make it easier to switch to the Desktop/App Menu

Posted on 2009-09-28 15:18 UTC by Heinrich Schäfer. Status: Implemented, milestone: Fremantle

The current implementation of the task switcher/menu button seems to be inefficient and inconsistent. (as seen on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJKD4xdAZK8 at 1:10..)

  • You need multiple 'clicks' to access the desired page (eg 3 clicks to reach the desktop from an open app)
  • the ui flow seems to be unintuitive and inconsistent: How should I know that the BACKGROUND if the app menu is linked to the dektop?

Solutions for this brainstorm

Selected solutions for this brainstorm

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Solution #3: Add more touch actions to the button

Posted on 2009-09-28 15:40 UTC by Heinrich Schäfer.

It looks like only a single-click action is assigned to the button. But there are far more way to interact with the ui (at least on a theoretical level)

  • A press-and-hold action could show the desktop
  • a press-and-drag-down could pull down the application meu (like it is done in the android menu)

Pro: you need only one action to reach the desired place

 

Not selected solutions for this brainstorm

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Solution #1: Make multiple buttons!

Posted on 2009-09-28 14:58 UTC by Heinrich Schäfer.

replace the single button in hte upper left corner with several buttons, one for each functionality:

  • one button to switch to the app menu
  • one to open the task switcher
  • maybe one more button to show the desktop?
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Solution #2: Show Desktop and app menu in the taks switcher

Posted on 2009-09-28 15:30 UTC by Heinrich Schäfer.

Treat the desktop and the app menu as special 'apps' and show them as thumbnails oin the task switcher like normal apps.

With this solution one would need only two clicks to reach the desired page. It would also make the ui flow more consistent as you would actually SEE where to click on.

The new UI flow would be the following:

  • Click on the upper left corner button to reach the app switcher (as usal)
  • Goto the app switcher and click the thumbnail of the desktop to reach it
  • Goto app switcher and press the app menu thumbnail to open the app menu

Latest activities to brainstorm Make it easier to switch to the Desktop/App Menu