Re: [Gimp-developer] Create New Layer Button

[Gez <listas ohweb com ar>]

El sáb, 28-03-2015 a las 05:28 -0400, Elle Stone escribió:
> On 03/27/2015 10:45 PM, Gez wrote:
> > It seems reasonable to require an extra click for committing extra
> > options and having the most commonly used option accessed quickly,
> > without interruptions to the workflow.
>
> What's the most commonly used option for a new layer varies from user to 
> user. When I make a new layer, almost always it's either the foreground 
> color or white.

Sure. I'm not claiming that everyone uses tools like GIMP the same way.
But I'm pretty sure that if there were some statistics about what people
need the most when creating a new layer it would be a transparent layer,
since it doesn't occlude the underlaying layers.
Furthermore, creating a new empty layer and then dragging the foreground
or background color from the toolbar swatch to the image takes exactly
the same time and effort (maybe less) than selecting the same option in
the current dialog.
But again, since not everyone uses GIMP the same way, it is impossible
to come up with something that makes everyone happy.
That's when a good interface designer should "design" the best possible
solution which of course won't make everyone happy but maybe will make
the target users of the program more productive.
Unfortunately, a solution that covers "I don't read tooltips or
manuals", "it's easy to find", "it doesn't clutter the UI with millions
of options", "it makes advanced users happy", etc. is plain impossible.

I'm baffled to learn that the default used to be creating a new
transparent layer but it was changed back because people didn't find it,
pretty much the same way they are not finding that alt+click creates a
new transparent layer now.
It's a good thing that features are easily discoverable, but as you
said, when a program becomes more complex it's not always possible to
keep everything at hand.
That's when hints like tooltips and text in the status bar come in, and
I don't think it's a bad thing to use them.
Is it really a good idea to pop up in front of every user face a complex
dialog just because some other users are lazy enough to not read the
documentation, the tooltips or the status bar not even once?

Gez.