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It should be much more intuitive to add a launcher to a panel. I propose that it should be made possible to add any program launcher to a panel etc. through the panel cashew options alongside or as a part of the "add widget" dialog. Reasons:
- There simply is no easy way. The drag-and-drop features for launchers can be frustrating and tiresome to use. Most of the time, I end up opening the program next to where I wanted to place the launcher, rather than placing a launcher. The only way I can get anything into my side panel (where I keep launchers) seems to be to find them in kick-off, right-click and add them to panel (of course not the right one), then click the cashew of the panel so that you can drag-and-drop the different elements around. Upon dragging my launcher, I can actually get it to my other panel - if I have set that one to always be visible first, because otherwise I won't be able to drag it over.
- It doesn't make sense to be able to add widgets right to a panel, but not app links. Some people might not be aware of the difference between launchers and widgets. The somewhat technical differentiation will be yet another hurdle to mastering the Plasma desktop.
- If there is any other method to add a program launcher to a panel, it is neither intuitive nor easy (and probably not documented), says I as a seasoned KDE 4 user of almost the first hour.

The simplest place for this to be would be in the panel customization menu (that comes up when you click the panel cashew. Right next to the button to add a new widget would be a fitting spot. There's plenty of space there!

Alternatively, one might consider to place it within the "add widget" dialog, but that would be one more click and make it harder to find. As above, there are three buttons already: One to sort by Categories, one to get new widgets, and one about activities. It should be trivial to add a fourth that lets a you add a program shortcut.

This is how I imagine the process: When that "add launcher" button is clicked, you would then be able to choose any of the launchers that you could also find in KMenu, or find one through the file picker. The layout could follow the concept of the widget picker, or even be as simple as a file picker.