Feature: Make empty space in header toolbar perform actions
Use cases
The first time I saw the new Nautilus header toolbar, I was glad I can now click the bar and search for stuffs or do something. Boy I was wrong, its unclickable! :)
Usually, the empty section of a text-like bar, such as in the Nautilus header toolbar, is a common UX for actions such as search or text input. This is a wide spread UI that can be seen in browsers, search engines, and even in gitlab.
Desired behavior
Should initiate search bar or transform into text base path
Benefits of the solution
This feature is beneficial because:
- makes Nautilus faster to use,
- makes Nautilus more user friendly,
- the empty bar will not be mistaken as bugged search bar because it really is now.
- also makes header toolbar more usable for expected UX behavior
Since clicking is easier to do than CTRL+L. This solves 3 shortcut issues:
- solves shortcut too far from the left of the keyboard,
- solves shortcut too difficult crossing the left hand to the right of the keyboard ,
- solves shortcut too disrupting using the right hand since you have to lift from the mouse then back again.
Touch device
- makes Nautilus more touch friendly,
- clicking the empty portion of a text-like bar is a UX for search and text input in touch devices,
- users need not manually launch the keyboard because clicking the empty portion of the bar it lunch the search bar and will automatically initiate keyboard.
Possible drawbacks
- When the path is long, this feature will be difficult to discover.
Counter arguments:
- But, when you open nautilus, you are most likely in surface directory and being able to access the top bar easily via mouse click or touch is a plus point to usability.
- How long should we really stay in deep directory vs top level directories? If one of GNOME's goal is to keep it simple for user then users will most likely be in top level directories ie. Pictures, Downloads, Documents, etc.
- If you are seeing deep directory often, you are most likely a dev, and we know, the terminal is best for dev jobs, moreover, you will be in an IDE of some sort most of the time and probably knows the CRTL+L shortcut as well :)
Possible solution:
- double click the breadcrumbs to show the text box
- in touch device, long press breadcrumbs to show text box
Edited by James Z