A system like the workspaces in Unity7 had an icon on the dock or something similar that give you the possibility of cycle through virtual desktops with mouse buttons or wheel.
For who is not familiar with Unity7 workspaces and virtual desktops, this is a useful video to understand.
How can I do the same on GNOME Shell (17.10+)?
Place the mouse pointer on Show Applications icon and scroll with the wheel:
On keyboard: Ctrl + Alt + ArrowKeys (unless you have Horizontal workspaces)
Click on "Activities". In the Activities overview use your mouse wheel or touchpad scroll switch between workspaces.
You can also use the Desktop Scroller GNOME Shell Extension which will let you "Switch between workspaces by scrolling at the edges of the screen or over the desktop background."
At least as of Ubuntu 22.04, you can hold down the Super/Windows key and use the mouse scroll wheel to switch between workspaces.
You can use my repository to navigate using Alt+ scroll between workspaces:
https://github.com/bit-willi/gnome-navigation-between-workspaces-using-mouse-shortcut
Scrolling the mouse wheel while the mouse pointer is over the Show Applications button will change the workspace
ubuntu 20.04 screen shot