Hi!

Am 14.04.2007 um 15:19 schrieb Jesse Ross:
> Unless you've imagined some better way, the alternative you're
> proposing is that when an email/IM comes in, a notification pops up
> saying "move this file where you want" -- that could get really
> disruptive considering the amount of email some people get... and
> some people will just let the notifications stack up anyway, because
> that's just how they work.

I admit I didn't have document types in mind which usually have more  
than 10 new documents a day which are not explicitely created by the  
user. :-> Do you want to use the project manager / OpenSpace as the  
primary application to manage you e-mail? I'm a bit concerned about  
the suitability of a generic application for such a specialized  
purpose, but I'm really

I agree that in this scenario, putting everything in one place  
automatically can't be avoided. I also agree that tagging is a  
reasonable and possibly a better solution than hierarchies. (We  
should think about filter rules for automatic tagging, though.)

When I talked about forcing the user to find a place for files, I was  
also thinking about actions like downloading files using a web  
browser. The type of action that creates less than five files and is  
invoked explicitly by the user. Web browsers like Firefox avoid the  
save dialog by placing everything on the desktop automatically. I  
think that in cases like these, using drag&drop is a better choice.

Please don't forget that a flat directory structure doesn't justify  
not caring about choosing a "location" for the file. A flat structure  
with tags is isomorphic to a hierarchical file structure with depth 1  
where files can be placed in multiple folders at once (=hard link).  
(This concept in mind, an untagged file is located in the top level  
folder / desktop, a tagged file is placed in one or more subfolders /  
projects.) So just creating untagged files when downloading them  
using a web browser is again cluttering the desktop.

Maybe there will be a need to create untagged (=Desktop) files every  
now and then, but we shouldn't make it too easy.

The reason I dislike cluttered desktops is a problem I observed on  
myself: Whenever I log in, I discover all the cool things I  
downloaded when I was logged in the last time. Instead of directly  
doing what I turned the computer on for, I usually take a look at  
these files, not doing anything useful. I don't want my computer to  
encourage me to play. I want to work. I want a clean desktop.

PDFs, images and music from the internet? Yes, please. But don't show  
them to me if I don't explicitly request to see them. This is why -  
in my opinion - nothing should go untagged by default.

Now how do you get users to not storing things without giving a tag?  
Simply don't allow it to them or at least make it hard to do. I have  
no definite answer on how this can be achieved yet. We could delete  
untagged files on a regular basis. This would be the hard-liner  
approach. Maybe it's enough to place a bold "temporary documents"  
label on the desktop. Maybe the mouse acceleration should be slowed  
down when the desktop is in front, so that people work in projects  
more often.

What's your opinion on this? Can you really work with unsorted and  
untagged files all over your desktop?

-Günther


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