April 22, 2004
Adobe InDesign's Arrow Glut
Some everyday desktop applications have better UI's than others, but we cotinue to use them because they are a standard or are the only tool for the task. Over time we learn the meaning of arcane iconography and make other affordances. Iconographic UI elements can be difficult to learn at first, but with a small enough learning curve they can make things much more efficient. For example, what everyday graphics person doesn't know what the magnifying glass icon do?
I have been using Adobe InDesign CS long enough to understand how to manage the new panel behavior and be mostly intuitive with it. However, I continue to make mistakes or scratch my head a lot when accessing the array of arrow icons at the bottom of the workspace.
Look in the screenshot above (click on it to see it at full size). At the bottom of the app's window are a dozen arrows. Starting from the right hand side and moving to the left, the ones on the far right are for navigating within the window. The set of 5 arrows in the middle are for navigating between pages in the document. Then there is an arrow for setting zoom. At the far left are a pair of arrows that I'm afraid to even try.
Even though I now understand the function of the page navigation arrows there are so many choices close together. I have to stop and think which arrow to click on and inevitable click the wrong one. Just the manual dexterity required is bad enough, but visually discerning 5 tiny icons really takes effort no matter how many times use them.
Yes, arrows are a standard iconic device, and are often a good one. Everything in moderation, please! Software manufacturers are so concerned with offering easy access to so many redundant features, they severely compromise usability and efficiency.
April 07, 2004
editing many
 editing tool open to multiple images |  first chance to rotate as uploading |
 second chance to rotate... this time you can rotate several images by choosing the top of the photo, then hitting a rotate button |
One critical advantage snapfish offers is the ability to manipulate multiple photos at once. From rotating to captioning, this is a wonderful feature, especially for low bandwidth users.
I also appreciate they allow one to rotate at the upload stage, when the process is in java and doesn't cost a click. (a user wouldn't know that it was java and not html, but they might notice how fast an easy it was...)
editing images for everybody
found on ofoto
Here editing is a mode you enter, and once entered, you can page through your pictures, editing along. This is very useful if one needs to turn multiple images.
The icons are straightforward (a magic wand for something I still can't quite figure out seems strangely fine in both yahoo and ofoto's case, though of course it doesn't jive with the adobe convention)
The save is insufficiently called out-- I turned all my album images only to return to the index and realize they weren't turned at all.
Undo is nicely available in both the start over and single fix mode.
Unusual tools like filters and borders are tucked away which doesn't hurt, though yahoo having them open seems acceptable as well. I miss the lighter/darker/high contrast/low contrast Yahoo offers. (but one can live very well without it)
edit photos
from Yahoo Photos
from left to right
Open question: all of these buttons look alike, yet the activities range from instantly changing your picture to opening new tools. Is this an issue?
Undo is a bit dismaying: one can only start over, one can't undo a single action. So if one is down a repair path and makes a misstep, you have to return to ground zero.
The exception is effects and borders, which have their own undo. Oh, and autofix, whatever the mysterious rules are around that.
Despite these issues, it's fairly easy to get to and use (though why it's labeled enhance image instead of edit image is a mystery to me). Which is why I asked about mixing mode buttons and action buttons, which i would guess would be bad for setting expectations in the user.