[Qt-creator] Lost in 4.2

[Robert Löhning]

Hi *,

Am 01.12.2016 um 21:53 schrieb Jason H:
> Thank you Andre, for putting that much more tactfully. My frustration is not due to anyone on this list, but a more general frustration with modern UIs that lack intuitiveness. It seems that it's assumed tht people will click around and explore the UI, however I claim this is a product of bad design to start with. I spent a lot of time in the 90s and 2000s studying UIs. And in fact I give *a ton* of credit to Qt made making great UIs easily. There was once a process that I used to to go through of UI normalization, which is derived from database normalization (3NF and the like). There were a few common rules that when applied would result in a very clear, intuitive UI. I constantly have to explain these to people graduating with degrees in design. Too concerned with colors, padding and fonts, the usability is overlooked. 6 steps to so something that could happen in 2, and without cluttering the UI.
>
> Anyway, to bring it back to the matter at hand, yes, you are again correct. My conclusion of "buttons" is too specific to engage in a cooperative dialog. I'm open to a variety of UI solutions.
> I see it in my mind as:
> Build & Run      [+] [^] | // (+ = Add Kit, ^ =import icon)
> - Platform1              |
> --Build                  |
> --Run                    |
> -OR-
> Build & Run              |
> [+ Kit]  [Import]        | // or move to bottom of Build & Run area, below platform list.
> - Platform1              |
> --Build                  |
> --Run                    |

How about something like:

Build & Run               |
- Platform1               |
   --Build                 |
   --Run                   |
- Platform2               |
   --Build                 |
   --Run                   |
- Platform3               |
   --Build                 |
   --Run                   |
- Import Existing Build...|

Best Regards,
Robert


> I remain open to alternatives. Like, we could see what other platforms or builds are available, and offer them with an "activate" button.
>
> So while fiddling around some more, it seems this last option is already the case (See attached) There are grayed out options, and when I click on them they get a red exclamation. Neat. Id on't know why this didn't work to begin with? But it does now.
>
> One suggestion is when I click on the Platform, it selects the build child item. It might be useful to display the context menu since I effectively can't do anything with the platform item. But if I right click on the platform, I can disable it (or copy steps). It's be a good way to clue the user into the availability of a context menu.
>
>
>> Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2016 at 4:07 PM
>> From: "André Pönitz" <apoenitz at t-online.de>
>> To: "Jason H" <jhihn at gmx.com>
>> Cc: "Andre Poenitz" <Andre.Poenitz at qt.io>, qt-creator <qt-creator at qt-project.org>
>> Subject: Re: [Qt-creator] Lost in 4.2
>>
>> On Thu, Dec 01, 2016 at 05:33:08PM +0100, Jason H wrote:
>>>> Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2016 at 5:02 PM
>>>> From: "Andre Poenitz" <Andre.Poenitz at qt.io>
>>>> To: "Mike Jackson" <imikejackson at gmail.com>, "Jason H" <jhihn at gmx.com>
>>>> Cc: qt-creator <qt-creator at qt-project.org>
>>>> Subject: Re: [Qt-creator] Lost in 4.2
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Mike Jackson <imikejackson at gmail.com>
>>>>> <rant>
>>>>  >  Rule 1: "new" way of doing user interfaces dictates that in no way
>>>>  > should the UI widgets indicate that they can be clicked, moved or
>>>>  > interacted with. It is entirely up to the user to simply click all over
>>>>  > the interface until some hidden menu shows up or something happens.
>>>>
>>>> This is an old-fashioned, standard context menu on items in a tree view,
>>>> a concept that is in use in dozens of places all over of Qt Creator since
>>>> the beginning.
>>>>
>>>> The fact that it *also* reacts to single clicks is a convenience shortcut
>>>> for people who are capable of reading documentation or possible
>>>> asking politely on the mailing list. Also rather old-school skills.
>>>
>>>
>>> It looks nested, but not a tree to me.
>>
>> It is a QTreeView. There's a delegate to make the first level of items a
>> bit larger and bold. The view is also forced to be always expanded, and
>> the expand/collapse markers are suppressed (since they wouldn't serve
>> much of a purpose since it's not collapsable...)
>>
>> The core of this terrible modernization is
>>
>>     void SelectorDelegate::paint(QPainter *painter,
>>         const QStyleOptionViewItem &option, const QModelIndex &index) const
>>     {
>>         auto model = static_cast<const ProjectsModel *>(index.model());
>>         QStyleOptionViewItem opt = option;
>>         if (TreeItem *item = model->itemForIndex(index)) {
>>             switch (item->level()) {
>>             case 2: {
>>                 QColor col = creatorTheme()->color(Theme::TextColorNormal);
>>                 opt.palette.setColor(QPalette::Text, col);
>>                 opt.font.setBold(true);
>>                 opt.font.setPointSizeF(opt.font.pointSizeF() * 1.2);
>>                 break;
>>                 }
>>             }
>>         }
>>         QStyledItemDelegate::paint(painter, opt, index);
>>     }
>>
>> All these *gosh* deviations from a stock QTreeView instance are direct
>> responses to explicit requests that were made by users of the features
>> during the four(!) months this has been publically accessible to anyone
>> who has a strong opinion on how the next release of a piece of software
>> should look like.
>>
>> The change went in intentionally in the very early days of the 4.2
>> development branch since it is known and understood that certain
>> people are bound to express strong opinions on any kind of UI change,
>> warranted or not, etc, etc, to give everybody remotely interested
>> the opportunity to comment early, ideally before UI string freeze
>> which typically marks the end of UI changes for a release.
>>
>>> There needs to be buttons.
>>
>> Let me try to translate this into something that I would consider
>> a socially acceptable phrasing of exactly the same idea:
>>
>>    "Hey guys, I really tried, but had a hard time to find out how to get
>>     a kit active for my project. Can't you add a button or two to make
>>     the functionality from the context menu more directly accessible?"
>>
>> My role then would be to respond with something like
>>
>>    "Well, it would make it look more cluttered, but sure, there's
>>     still some room at the bottom, should we put it there?"
>>
>> This follows a traditional pattern of human communication, even if it
>> looks a bit convoluted, if not nonsensical. It leaves you enough room to
>> not spell out what you really mean between your lines, and it leaves me
>> enough room to not spell out things I really mean between my lines and
>> gives both of us an opportunity to actually solve a problem without
>> getting overly agitated or upset.
>>
>>> I vehemently oppose degradation of usability because it isn't "modern".
>>
>> You bark at a change that effectively removes several hundred lines
>> of custom code implementing a machinery of two (three, actually)
>> handcrafted tab bars that were specifically designed to look different
>> and modern at the time and was unique not only within Creator, but also
>> not present in any other application I am aware of, and that replaces
>> aforementioned with a stock 90's treeview with two dozen lines of
>> customization on top (also available at the time).
>>
>> Looks like mankind truly entered the post-factual age.
>>
>> Andre'
>>
>
>
>
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