[Design] Adjustable width sidebar: bug 6216

[Mimi Yin]

See in-line :o)

On Jul 7, 2006, at 5:13 PM, Markku Mielityinen wrote:

>> As for the design philosophy of 'not making choices for the user',  
>> I think that's a very general statement that has merit, but would  
>> be dangerous to apply everywhere. After all, what is design other  
>> than making smart choices for users, choices that either most  
>> users aren't interested in making; or choices that users aren't  
>> equipped to make.
>
> I feel the same way in a sense that good design is one of the best  
> strategies to enhance the user experience. The essence of 'not  
> making choices for the user' philosophy is to make the default  
> settings meet the requirements of the majority but not to prevent  
> making changes from those who want and are equipped to do them.

Agreed.

> Like all philosophies, when taken to extremes the result is not  
> what was originally wanted. I am aware of the problems in designing  
> an user interface that is able to meet the requirements of a  
> heterogeneous user population. Some designers prefers the so called  
> one button user interface, where the user is unable to do anything  
> wrong as there is only one button to press, whereas others prefer  
> to go to the other extreme with powerful but also very complex user  
> interfaces (cough cough, GNU emacs). I think that we agree that the  
> real art and challenge in this business it to balance the two  
> extremes so that users do not feel overwhelmed by the user  
> interface but still are able to use it for the tasks that the  
> software was designed for.
>
>> Of course, what I'm describing is the 80% case. So I'm not opposed  
>> to an adjustable splitter in principle, it's just something that  
>> needs to come in a package with a couple of other UI elements.

> This is just an idea and like all ideas it requires thought before  
> implementation. An alternative solution to the problem that I ran  
> into would be to use tool tips to show the full collection name  
> when it is not able to fit the sidebar. And I am sure that other  
> solutions can be found when given some though.

Yes absolutely. If this doesn't work today, it should be logged as a  
bug. Would you mind logging it?

>
> Cheers,
>    Markku