Dan Rabbit And The World Of Maybe; Docky Feature Mock-Ups

By , Published December 11, 2009

We're massive fans of Dock application 'Docky' here at OMG! Ubuntu! and one of the principle designers working on it is a young man with a wonderfully conceptual imagination by the name of 'Dan Rabbit'.

Ubuntu 9.10 users will be likely using some of his artwork right now €“ the Humanity icon theme that is default in Karmic!

back on topic; I'm not here to least all of his wondrous achievements but simply share with you some his amazing Docky concept pieces.

Whilst, sadly/annoyingly/givethistomenow, these are still mock-ups, it shows a great spirit of design and UI flair that will not only benefit users of Docky by having him on board but, I’m sure, will make Dan a very wealthy man at some point!

So let's take a gander!

VIDEO PLAYER

image

Docky becomes a HUD control panel to the video player in this mock-up. Not only does this look great but it's really logical and a functional use of the Dock €“ which likely wouldn't be needed when viewing video.

Even more excitingly Dan says that something along these lines will be possible in Docky2. Wow!

MAPS

Docky_Maps_by_DanRabbit

The idea behind this is pretty self-explanatory and is a simple docklet affair. 

AUDIO

image

The important part of this mock-up for people thinking €œDocky already has tooltips€ is not the tooltip but what is inside the tooltip €“ a volume control slider!

PLACES

Places_in_Docky_by_DanRabbit

€œStacks!€ is what some people may scream when seeing this but doesn't rush judgement on it being a simple clone.

By integrating a €œbread-crumb trail€ is shows that this is more interactive than just a 'stack' €“ it's a mini file-browser!

More

You can see more of Dans works over on his DeviantArt page @

http://danrabbit.deviantart.com/

You can install Docky from teh Docky Development PPA (sadly sans these great features) @

 https://launchpad.net/~docky-core/+archive/ppa

Article originally appeared on omgubuntu.co.uk

Related posts:

  1. Docky Gains Panel Mode, Network Docklet & More
  2. Official Docky Development PPA
  3. The Future Of Docky – Docky Creator Jason Smith Tells Us Why Docky Is Going To Get Even More Awesome
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  • Anonymous

    As long as it stays functional and easy to use. Go docky! (Though imma stick with old school cairo-dock :P)

  • http://seifsallam.co.cc/ Seif Sallam

    i’ve never seen the idea of HUD for video playback before, thats very creative. whether it will affect usability or not.

  • http://twitter.com/WolfHook Paul

    These concepts really make sense and it is nice to see that the idea of a “Dock” is becoming more than a facility to dump icons for application launchers. I think it is a great idea and will increase work flow considerably, even if the basic file commands of applications can be included. For example, being able to right click on a Thunderbird icon and reply to emails or compose a new one, open OpenOffice files by right clicking on the icon and selecting”Open Recent” etc. You get the point.

    To some extent my iTunes icon does it with play and stop commands, but why stop there.

    If these ideas come to fruition then it will put my overpriced Apple iMac dock to shame. I wonder how long it takes for the guys in Cupertino to announce these type of features in the next OS X update.

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/5OIE2LZOE4V7GBAZU5OQOF427U ZoOL

    haha.. Lucky Dan, i’m one of his fans in Deviantart.. His mockup is very stylish.. Through Dan that i know about Docky project.. :D

  • http://www.linuxmint.com/ Jimbo

    In Snow Leopard OS X you can browse though your stacks like a “mini file-browser”. Granted there is no breadcrumb, just back and forward buttons, but you can do it none the less.

    The video controls seems interesting, but what do I do if I want to launch another app while I watch a video? What if I’m one of those people who uses their dock to switch apps? What if I autohide my dock? I’d have to see this video control in motion to see how it actually works.

    • Anonymous

      Only appear with the window in focus
      ?

    • Anonymous

      Its just a mockup.

  • http://seifsallam.co.cc/ Seif Sallam

    zeitgeist project + Docky will be something to wait for too http://seilo.geekyogre.com/2009/12/zeitgeist-docky-love/

  • ninjapirate89

    “givethistomenow”

    This just about sums up my feelings for these mock-ups.

  • Anonymous

    If the next version of Docky can work as a panel that sits nicely on the side of the screen, I’m in. All the panels out there that can be pushed to the side of the screen (rather than the top or bottom) execute it really poorly.

  • sane thoughts

    Wow , These are great designs… NOT!

    hrm… the dock changes into a video HUD? are you kidding?
    Then where will the open/running windows be listed? another dock?

    Why have a separate file manager when nearly every aspect of it is gonna be implemented again in a dock? to bloat a sleak app and duplicate everything in an OS?

    Good luck, with someone trying to actually find their way in a 48×48 map.

    These are just ideas which aernt very well thought of , to be really functional.

    If docky wants to be taken seriously , it needs to think more of how to function only as a dock…
    Or decide if it wants to be just a dock or more i-do-it-all-thingy .

    Common guys , be serious.

    • http://orkutcidio.deliriocoletivo.org Peterson Espaçoporto

      “Good luck, with someone trying to actually find their way in a 48×48 map.”

      Have you considered the possibility that by clicking on “Find Route” docky would take you to an actual web page? oO

      • sane thoughts

        Why mention it as a “feature” then? when all it is going to do is be a shortcut?

    • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/XL5IMN4PO2XAFS7FXAWFGIFRNM KnifeySpooney

      Though your comment is a bit extreme, I do see your point. Docky is my favorite dock because of how amazing the aesthetics are, but the functionality seems to be lacking in some areas. I’m sure these can be ironed out. (I would most of all like to see a separate icon for each running instance of Firefox/Chrome/anything.)

    • DanRabbit

      I take you haven’t used Painters in Docky before? Try clicking on the weather applet or the clock applet. These both already take over your dock and replace its contents. They seem to work pretty well. I admit, there are some differences here that would need to be thought out. And we’re already working on making painters more user friendly.

      if places bloated docky, it wouldn’t be shipped. As said before, this isn’t too different from the idea of stacks in Mac OS. But, it’s definitely not about copying. If you’ve ever used it before, it’s a really cool feature. But, you’re right when you say “why have a separate file manager”. After places, you might consider un-installing nautilus ;)

      Haha, I’m not sure why you’ve made the assumption that the map would go into the icon! That would be terrible! At this point, you sound like your just trolling :D In response to “why mention it as a feature”, because its more than you see there.

      Look, the trick is this. The people I design for are 90% my mom and dad. My mom explodes being in the same room as a computer, so for her navigating to google maps is impossible. This way, she can click on the little map icon, and just type a couple of things in order to get directions. It’s nothing crazy, but it’s 2 or 3 clicks more convenient and it’s something that she could even figure out on her own.

      If you really want to talk about ideas, come join our irc channel and we can talk. it’s #docky on irc.freenode.net We’re always welcome to suggestions.

      • sane thoughts

        Dude , the comment was not meant to be personal.
        It was just seemed like docky had really lost its direction and was a very disappointed.

        Is there any problem if you were to display the map from the dock itself.
        Why bring up the browser? Just embed the map in a large dock tooltip?

        • DanRabbit

          It sure seems like you meant it to be personal. It was very rude.

          None the less, what is the direction you think Docky should be going in? I’m not sure I understand why you’re disappointed. I really would honestly like to get feedback from you. Honest constructive criticism is very valuable.

          I’m not sure how it would work exactly. Maybe embedded webkit or something? I don’t know if Google has something where it’ll just pass you back the info.

          • sane thoughts

            Rest assured it was not personal , but disappointment at an OSS app loosing direction :)

            Video & Audio:
            Not sure how painter works. Its really not clear what problem the video HUD style is trying to solve.
            If you are to introduce 2 different ways for each video and audio , it isnt really the ideal way to do it.
            We already dont have a single unified media player , by default, we shouldnt expose that even more.
            So both video and audio are to be treated the exact same way. [again , not sure what it is trying to solve]

            Maps:
            Probably somehow get webkit to embed it? similar to how prism and chrome do it.
            Why? when user is asking a question in the dock , user would ideally want to get the result there itself. no need to open the browser, we just need to give the user the answer.

            Similar can be done for gmail plugin too.

            Places:
            The icon overlay[play/delete/info] is creating too much visual clutter. Those icon overlays are not needed , as the delete and info options are not the most commonly used options . Move them to the context menus. Just play/open the file on click. no need to over think it.
            On the other hand , when media are mounted you display the eject icon as an overlay.

          • DanRabbit

            Once again: what direction would you were you expecting Docky to take?

            The “problem” is that Docky is taking up space on the screen. We can utilize that space when the user’s focus changes. I’m not sure what having a unified media player has to do with anything.

            I don’t think that Robert would go for that. Gmail will probably stay as is for the most part.

            That overlay *is* the context menu. It’s not more clutter than your current menu is. The idea is that it would learn what the most common actions are. For this user, those are the most common actions. Places won’t handle the mounting/unmounting of media. This is already handled by the mount plugin. It seems you want it to be nautilus. So just use nautilus ;) This is something different.

          • Anonymous

            dude don’t even worry about the troll. he’ll complain about lack of direction without every clarifying what the lack means, just like anyone else who just wants to complain. i for one am using the docky-trunk, and so far like everything thats happening, although i’m not going to lie, i’m just using the bookmarks docklet on a second dock and the recycle bin. every time a new docklet comes out, i pull it up once, click it, then delete it. i just don’t need huge icons for weather and network icon, i’ve got those in a 22 px panel.not to say they suck, i just don’t need them. :D

            however, i’m super excited for these screen shots, and for what may happen in the future.

          • http://do.davebsd.com/ Jason Smith

            Hey no need to lie about using Vanilla Docky. That kind of setup is our break and butter man, and we love to hear people using Docky like that. We actually are not that different:

            2 docks, left dock == Places + Mounted Volumes, bottom dock == Launchers + clock + trash

            The other docklets dont much interest me (and you’ll not I spend most of my time working on making the core better, not docklets). Even DanBunny doesn’t spend a lot of his time working on Docklets but rather on how to make core even hotter.

          • sane thoughts

            It is clear the overlay is trying to be the context menu , but it is creating visual clutter.

            If it was even to make the docky “learn” , all the icons need to be displayed initially and docky would only reduce icon when they are not used after several days.
            Initially this is a clutter and later the user will wonder what happened to those icons. How will you bring back those options if the user suddenly wants to use them the very next day the option disappears?

            Never remove options , that is bad for learn-ability . If required add the options that user uses more frequently but never remove. Thats a bad design.

            Or by “learn” did you mean the options will be present in the context menus and will become available as overlays if the user uses the options more frequently?
            That would be a little better , but then dont display Play overlay. As the user is used to playing or opening the file by just clicking , why introduce a new behavior after several days?If play is allowed to become an overlay and docky “learns” the play is used more commonly , every file will start displaying the play overlay.Hence, the play overlay is not required.

            File can be opened or played on single-click and only the delete can be an overlay. That will reduce the visual noise. And dont allow too many items to become overlays. Ideally max of 2 overlays below will be better.

            By lack of direction I meant , Docky tries to do something and just keeps falling short.
            Like for the places , it nearly tries to be as close as possible to be a file manager[breadcrumbs,shows disk usage status,file information,allows delete] and then falls short. Why split the unmount to the mount plugin? If user is file browsing and ends up trying to unmount , why is user sent to the mount plugin? If places is enabled just allow the user to unmount from places. For Maps , docky tries to bring in a feature and does not fully perform it.
            It seems docky is more trying to be something more and just falling a bit short. If you try to something *in* the docky , finish it in the docky. Dont redirect.

            But alas , if someone points mistakes and loopholes they get labelled trolls! C’est la vie!

          • http://do.davebsd.com/ Jason Smith

            “It is clear the overlay is trying to be the context menu , but it is creating visual clutter.”

            You do not know how painters are supposed to work. They are something that makes docky different however and do provide a cool new form of interaction with the dock. Please do not try to judge how something is used from a static image. It’s like trying to judge how fast a plane can fly by looking at its landing gear.

            “Never remove options , that is bad for learn-ability .”

            Fail fail fail! This is not the case. There are many cases where removing options are the right idea. Take a look at compiz and where it got with this option for everything and no option goes away mentality. There are at least 2 big reasons to remove options.

            1) It is not helpful and is presenting clutter that is dragging down the usability of the system.
            2) It is only modestly helpful but extremely complex to implement and is causing lots of bugs that limited resources do not have time to fix.

            “By lack of direction I meant , Docky tries to do something and just keeps falling short.”

            I take personal offence to that. You have no idea what our direction is or where we are headed, but you presume to. This makes you rude, arrogant, and above all a complete twit. I can not stand when people judge my work before it’s done. How can you say it falls short when we have not even released yet? Failure to understand what a release is infuriates me. This is, btw, why people are saying you are a troll.

            A person who cannot give the development time the time of day to think *maybe* they know what they are doing does not deserve to take part in any of the fruits of their labour. Please use something else.

          • sane thoughts

            Dude , by “remove options” I meant the overlay icons.
            Displaying them initially and then removing them is bad for learn-ability

          • sane thoughts

            FYI , the discussion is about the design specked as of now.
            If you can comprehend that basic information you are the ignorant twad!.
            Be my guest and do take it personally. And stop behaving like a jerk-off.
            [Dont you think you are the only one who knows how to use foul language, asshole!]

          • sane thoughts

            Oh … move the icon of the media player to the top with the name , and rather use a volume icon to indicate that the slider controls the volume and so that it is not confused for the song timeline.

        • Anonymous

          As I said before, never ever ever ever SHOUT if you don’t want someone to take it personally.

      • Anonymous

        For the record, I can attest to the friendliness and general helpfulness of the irc channel. I’m on there quite often. Thank you DanRabbit, don’t let the haters keep you down :)

    • http://do.davebsd.com/ Jason Smith

      Please please please, use AWN or Cairo Dock or anything else.

  • Mohan

    Awesome mockups, lets hope they will come true some day.

  • http://do.davebsd.com/ Jason Smith

    On my way out the door but…

    DanRabbit is the best, we love having him on the team. He is largely in charge of the look and feel of Docky and commands enough respect from the team to get features that he feels (and thus we feel) are cutting edge into the program. I cant promise anything, we all know how that release date thing went, but I hope to see at least the grid view widget and the video player mockup implemented soon.

    • Pelle

      You know, i requested a “stack” alternative in launchpad (for docky 1, the bug is closed now) and Robert (Dyer) said he personally hated stacks, and thought you did as well. LOL.
      https://bugs.launchpad.net/do-plugins/+bug/435349

      Either way, i think it’s a super nice way to quick browse the file system. It saves you a lot of clicking around, at least in the “list” mode where it functions like a “menu” (like with gnome-file-browser-applet or macos x stacks in “list mode”). I heavily rely on it, since my folder structure is rather deep.

      I love the ideas of DanRabbit, and i think it would be wise to implement much of it. Of course i don’t need to tell *you* that. I’m just glad he found you (or vice versa).
      Docky2 is looking good! :)

      • http://do.davebsd.com/ Jason Smith

        To be honest I am not sure how DanRabbit and Docky came together. Did we approach him? Did he approach us? I honestly cannot remember. What I can say is he has full commit access to the source tree and is learning rather quickly how to tweak all the visual elements of Docky that are reasonable for a relative non-coder to tweak. Some mornings I wake up and Docky looks dramatically different (and usually better) than the day it did before.

  • http://twitter.com/kinesthesia kinesthesia

    Roar, sexyness. I’d love an easier way to change the icons of the launchers, but I’m sure that’ll come in due time.

  • Pettson

    omg, omg, omg, omg!
    this is just spectacular! i know this isn’t what they’re going for, but i definitely think that a seriously versatile dock-like-doish-thingy like this could sport a much more central role in gnome three.
    @sane thoughts, i can definitely see myself clicking an icon to get to the video controls

  • Mel

    I love his work! I’m a huge fan!

  • Anonymous

    Great stuff, I had a similar concept which I discussed some time ago as a possible awn feature and alternative to creating a one window gimp. I called it unimaginatively Application UI Extension.
    The post is over here ->

    http://tretle.co.cc/2009/01/30/gnome-30-and-user-interface-design/

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/SZ5LRC7HMV235RCLCEBXMEJYVY Bryan

    These mockups look excellent!!!

    One comment though – (I think this has already been mentioned), in the audio player mockup, my first impression was that the slider was a track position slider, not volume control.
    Maybe have an increasing triangle style volume control…?

    One request though – would it be possible to have a docklet with access to the “ubuntu” and “system” menus?
    So that I could access all my programs, and get the shutdown/restart options etc.
    If that could be implemented, I could remove my hidden gnome-panel completely!!!

    Keep up the good work!

  • milbo

    looking good. great software well made (such as docky) can be a decisive factor for many people in choosing a new OS – you interact with it every day.