Simplifying the "Add Content" Process for End Users

Summary
I would really like to offer end users a quick "shortcut" to quickly add a few types of content to a panel, ideally with one or two clicks from the existing drop-down that contains the "Add Content" link.

Details
I'm worried about end users having to select the correct category on the left in the modal dialog, select their content, and then navigate through one or two screens of options that probably won't make much sense to them (I'm thinking in particular of adding Views, which have lots of options that I worry may confuse an end user). Basically I would love to implement a shortcut to add a few selected types of content (using values I choose in advance for any options that need to be set along the way).

My Solution - Is There a Better Way?
The only way that I've come up with to implement this is write some JavaScript to fake user input in the modal dialog (without actually displaying the dialog) based on previously decided parameters. However, this way seems a little clunky to me and I was wondering if there is a better way to do this.

Thank You!
Thank you in advance for your help. As usual with Drupal and Panels, most of my work seems to be paring away "extra" functionality to make things simpler (albeit less powerful) for the user - which is a great problem to have!