Mojave Finder folder preview — a UX case study

Rather than simply displaying a folder’s icon at a larger size when selected in Gallery View, Mojave’s Finder could give users a peek into the folder (information scent) by previewing the folder’s contents. In the case of populous folders, the items shown at the front could be based on the date last opened or modified to increase the odds they are more recent in the user’s memory.

A prototype showing Finder previewing a folder’s contents in Gallery View.

While this example only shows images (for which I think the feature would be most useful), it would work with any file type providing QuickLook previews.

I also prototyped a couple ways of acting on file metadata displayed in Finder’s Preview pane.

Made with Kite, Sketch, and ScreenFlow.