3 ms·

On my Mac, I can 3 finger swipe to quickly switch between multiple virtual desktops. This takes less than a second and it doesn’t require me to turn my head and

On my Mac, I can 3 finger swipe to quickly switch between multiple virtual desktops. This takes less than a second and it doesn’t require me to turn my head and refocus my eyes on content in a different spot. This reveals something odd about me, or about the author. Not sure which. It seems obvious to me that it's less context-switch overhead to glance at something that's already physically in my peripheral vision than it is to swap out what's physically in front of me for some different content. The latter means I have to take a moment to understand what I'm looking at, then find what I need. The former doesn't seem to have this "wait, what is this" part before looking where I need, which I suspect is because it was already in my field of vision and some part of my brain that would otherwise be keeping track of the patterns on the wall is keeping track of placement of things on that second monitor.

gurkendoktor 10y ago
I really think it helps that the three-finger swipe is interactive, i.e. you can swipe at your own speed and even decide to go back in the midst of the gesture. I often peek at the adjacent spaces only to come back to my current space - it feels like looking left and right without moving my eyes. Using non-interactive keyboard shortcuts is much more disorienting IMHO.
developer2 10y ago
The truly monstrous users like myself use both systems: 3 monitors, with multiple virtual spaces on each. I can't have it any other way. The primary spaces on each monitor are a) IDE, b) Chrome, c) Terminal. The secondary space on monitor 1 is database tool, monitor 2 is Postman for API testing, monitor 3 is a split-screen of email and Slack. A benefit of this system are that email and Slack are on a dedicated screen, but on a secondary space of a secondary monitor. The distraction of those communication tools is completely out of the way; I specifically switch to that screen when I am willing to switch out of "real work". Yet it's not complicated at all - a single 3-finger swipe to the left on monitor 3.
- andylynchnz 10y ago
  In our office we have six screens on most desks. Are first we thought it was a little over the top but it's hard to imagine cutting back now; you can lay out everything at once and it's just there - no switching. The only odd thing is we need water cooling in the desks to keep the heat down, but it works nicely.

gurkendoktor 10y ago

I really think it helps that the three-finger swipe is interactive, i.e. you can swipe at your own speed and even decide to go back in the midst of the gesture. I often peek at the adjacent spaces only to come back to my current space - it feels like looking left and right without moving my eyes. Using non-interactive keyboard shortcuts is much more disorienting IMHO.

developer2 10y ago

The truly monstrous users like myself use both systems: 3 monitors, with multiple virtual spaces on each. I can't have it any other way. The primary spaces on each monitor are a) IDE, b) Chrome, c) Terminal. The secondary space on monitor 1 is database tool, monitor 2 is Postman for API testing, monitor 3 is a split-screen of email and Slack. A benefit of this system are that email and Slack are on a dedicated screen, but on a secondary space of a secondary monitor. The distraction of those communication tools is completely out of the way; I specifically switch to that screen when I am willing to switch out of "real work". Yet it's not complicated at all - a single 3-finger swipe to the left on monitor 3.

andylynchnz 10y ago
In our office we have six screens on most desks. Are first we thought it was a little over the top but it's hard to imagine cutting back now; you can lay out everything at once and it's just there - no switching. The only odd thing is we need water cooling in the desks to keep the heat down, but it works nicely.