[Bf-committers] Patch [#36028] New 4-column layout for the editor-type-selector menu...

[David Jeske]

@Sean - The test program you describe would tell us about new-user
usability, but would not tell us about expert usability. While I would
value these results, I suspect they would not be very convincing to
existing users. Expert/everyday data can be gathered by putting
usage-tracking/timing directly into the application. Then we can visualize
frequency/timing of use over any users submitting usage data. This might be
worth doing, as it's generally just small hooks inside some core menu code.
However, to learn much about comparative designs, you then need to do A/B
testing, where different users get different UIs (randomly or selectively).
Our userbase is a bit small for this, and I think basic automatic
crash/usage reporting would be a better/simpler first step.

@Gaia - My concern is not only for myself, but for general "default ui"
usability. Adding customization does not change usability for most users. I
also think other areas of the UI are more ripe for customization, such as
the header-bar controls, particularly the info-header.

@ any unconvinced - I highly recommend you *try* the proposed 3/4 column
menus for a couple days before you draw a conclusion about which you would
prefer. It's quite alarming how much easier it is to find things (even for
expert users) once entries stop moving around.