Comment 0 for bug 552920

Binary package hint: indicator-application

Application indicators are tiny buttons that spawn wide menus. Since other indicator menus autoexpand if the cursor hovers over another indicator (much like regular window menus), the previous menu disappears. This is not THAT big of a problem (although I would argue that it still is one) with regular window menus because most items are wider than a single icon. However where this becomes REALLY prominent and annoying is indicator-sound, because chances are a user clicks the applet most of the time to set the volume. I think it's safe to assume that most of the time the volume is not zero, which means the slider is way over the boundary created by the indicator icon. I have excellent hand-eye coordination and even I have sometimes found myself struggling with the applet, accidentally expanding the message indicator menu several times before being able to adjust the volume, because the optimal path for my cursor movement crosses the menu item boundary on the right side. (See attached screenshot.)

I think a good solution would be to introduce a slight delay (no more than a few hundred milliseconds) before a neighboring indicator applet menu gets autoexpanded.

In the long run, this could be given some thought with regards to regular menu items as well. Could the delay work? Or would making all menu items wider within the theme be a more feasible workaround? I think this would deserve some actual usability testing time.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
Package: indicator-application 0.0.18-0ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-18.27-generic 2.6.32.10+drm33.1
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-18-generic i686
Architecture: i386
Date: Thu Apr 1 00:43:59 2010
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_US.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: indicator-application