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Hello, this is my first post here. Please show mercy should I somehow manage to break protocol (despite of me reading up).

I will briefly propose an "expandable QuickLaunch area", based on my failed attempts to use Gnome3 and Unity in a combined touchscreen, keyboard and mouse, environment.

First off, I use more programs than the standard user. On my working PC, my current KDE taskbar is enormous (auto-hide). This way I can stuff all the programs I use into the quick-launcher.
I would not consider this approach on a touchscreen device. The icons would be too small. Further, I sometimes wished there was text to go with the icons as some look very similar and going for the tooltip is an annoyance.

This is why I propose an expanding quick-launch-area, which should do best for both touchscreens and mouse shoving:


(Forget the "art work". I just picked a random KDE taskbar picture and added a random box with icons, both of which I quickly stole from the Internet.)

As you can see, instead of showing the launcher icons the area simply displays a text with arrows pointing upwards.

Usage with a mouse:
If you reach this area with a mouse (selectable alternative: if you click on it) a bigger quick-launch window pops up above the taskbar, close to the quick-launch-area.
The size of this window should be selectable (be it by selecting the size of the icons, text on or off, number of rows, etc.).
If you leave the window area with your mouse-pointer, it closes again.

Usage on a touchscreen:
You swipe up in the area where the quick-launcher is located (even if the bar is hidden) upon which the big quick-launch window opens, allowing you to easily pick a program to start with your finger. Swiping down on the big window closes it.
Alternatively (selectable) a click (touch) on the quick-launch-area opens and closes it.

What do you think about this?

So it sounds like you would like a couple of things:
First you want a consolidated quick-launch (like) widget which shows just a single icon/label in the panel and pops up on various triggers. I believe there are a couple of options for this including the Folder View widget with a dedicated folder of shortcuts, just using the Favorites list of the default Application Launcher and the Shelf widget (assuming it is still available in Plasma 5). Each of these will adjust their popups according to the number of items and the size of the screen and/or allow resizing manually.

Second you want this widget (or to be able to configure widgets) to respond to certain mouse/touch actions. Seems reasonable.

In a touchscreen environment, you often have a small screen, which means that you may want to hide the taskbar. In this case, swiping up (or down, depending on where the bar is located) in the zone where the quick-launch-area would come up should trigger that action immediately (open the quick-launch window).
I believe this would be an exceptional behavior, which could not simply be implemented by the widget itself (being triggered while hidden).

In case of a mouse it should be straightforward. You would register when the pointer enters the area and remains there for a certain amount of milliseconds. Likewise when the pointer leaves the quick-launch-window (and is gone for a certain amount of time), the window closes.

Some users are quite particulate when it comes to arranging their quick-launch icons. You will always have to store the order somehow (index).

This seems good. Just make a widget for it. In fact, perhaps Quicklaunch with a Grouping Plasmoid may already do the trick, however badly. Same with the fullscreen app menu.