[openbeos] Re: Data or App Centric?

Well... my cat among the pigeons again....

The concept should be neither data nor app-centric but _TASK_
centric. On GE we've discussed the "tool-chain" approach for
quite some time. The entire user experience IMO should be
centered around tasks that the user wants to complete. The
applications should make their "tools" available for this in a
"chained" manner. The tasks would be initially predefined for the
user, but in good BeOS fashion customizable for anyone who wants
more out of the system. 

        Example: "Send this picture via email" would not trigger the
        normal email and require an attachment to be added, IOW you
        start with email and then go to the picture, but rather  the
        other way round: You have a picture, drag the "Task Manager"
        icon onto it, which then asks you which task you want to
        perform. (<- my idea, (c) Helmar Rudolph 2005 :)); you pick
        "email item". The task manager realises it's a picture, which
        triggers the "resize chain element" if the picture is found
        to exceed certain size limits. Once that is done, you are
        asked to whom you want to send it, obviously with access to
        the "People chain element". Then the "subject" (preset, can
        be overwritten), then the text message. Finally (optionally)
        some other questions about the storage of the mail, and off
        you go.
        
You get the idea. I think most newbies are totally unaware of the
difference between applications and data anyway, and that you can
open data with more than one application. 

I believe the "task" centric approach is much more suitable than
any of the other ones. It also lends a great deal more
flexibility to the whole thing, esp. if the "Task Manager" has a
nifty GUI that allows you to customize those tasks by simply
dragging and dropping.

I know this would be a major departure from the way things are
done today (even on BeOS/Haiku), but it would completely
revolutionise the user experience. I believe there is a huge
opportunity waiting to be ceased.

Helmar

Other related posts: