On Thu, 28 Jul 2005, Alexandre Prokoudine wrote:
Date: Thu, 28 Jul 2005 14:01:59 +0400 From: Alexandre Prokoudine <alexandre.prokoudine@...400...> To: Inkscape Devel List inkscape-devel@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: Re: Inkscape Harsh Criticisms [was Re: [Inkscape-devel] Possible bug in 0.42]
On 7/28/05, Alan Horkan <horkana@...44...> wrote:
The edit menu has a massive twenty one, count 'em 21 items.
22 here, and I wonder how we could reduce this amount by half.
Inkscape 0.40 had a relatively flat menu structure which did a good job of exposing all the functionality that was already there.
Inkscape 0.42 has a lot more functionality and I think we need to create some submenus for certain things. Inkscape needs to shed its skin to allow room to grow. Rather than get into specifics just yet I urge you to look at other software and do that competative analysis, particularly Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand. If you think it is annoying how I keep bringing it up just wait until a mainstream graphics magazine reviews Inkscape and you can bet they will have something pretty similar to say. Keep in mind that generally menus should not exceed 15 items, and should have at least 3 items (this guideline is flexible but a good rule of thumb).
One way would be creating Just Another Menu, say, Actions and move alle duplicate/clone stuff over there. That would give as 16 menu items with 2 patterns related menu items looking alien.
It doesn't take an expert to know there are problems even I can see Inkscape has serious usability issues.
We shouldn't be surprised when users are critical of Inkscape, the bug tracker is far from empty. Of course you should be proud of how far Inkscape has come. It seems like I have to play Devils Advocate and try to point out problems but I would really prefer if everyone could take a step back, forget what they have already learned and try to take a fresh look at Inkscape. Why is that there? If I am were an artist trying to create something would I want really want to see feature X or are implementation details I don't need to see being exposed?
this some of which I have already pointed out but were ignored. The Inkscape Preferences dialog is a candidate for the User Interface Hall of shame.
Already discussed and mockuped.
Great. I guess this is the usual problem of managing expectations. There are parts of Inkscape we all know are not as good as they could be but the general public doesn't know that. I think previous releases have been a lot more careful about saying which features we know still need a lot more work.
I can say with confidence Inkscape is by far the best Cross Platform, Open Source, Gtk based, Scalable Vector Graphics editor! Unfortunately users inevitably rush to compare Inkscape against their own specific requirements and although some of their points may come across as "different is bad" there is always something we can learn from criticism even if it is sometimes difficult to hear it.
Sincerely
Alan Horkan http://advogato.org/person/AlanHorkan/