Re: Xc4 UI
Re: Xc4 UI
- Subject: Re: Xc4 UI
- From: Rick Mann <email@hidden>
- Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:35:28 -0800
On Mar 10, 2011, at 15:22:28, Philip Ershler wrote:
> If you look in the docs there is modifier key + double click which will open the file in a new window. Might that help?
It helps, but it doesn't really get one to the desired default behavior.
Something I wanted to emphasize from Dave's description of how he works: I want each individual file to remember the shape and location of the window I last set.
This geometry is very useful for quickly finding the set of things you're working with, and it's something that's completely lost in the all-in-one UI designs. When you have multiple windows, you can remember where "this thing" and "that thing" are with a combination of memory and visual recognition of the thing.
I start by remembering that the Thing I want is "somewhere in the upper-left area of my workspace," or "on the right-hand screen." I then glance over there, and see that there are three windows with a relationship to each other. They are overlapping, but I can tell that one is above and to the left, the other is below and to the right, etc. At this point, I usually recognize exactly which window is the Thing I want.
All of this is MUCH faster than looking at a (potentially) long list of file names, finding the one I want, clicking it, waiting for it to replace the other file I'm working on, and then probably reversing that process to get back to the file I was working on after consulting the new file.
Every time an attempt to get to a particular file causes that file to appear not where it was left, but somewhere else, or forgets where you last had that window open, undermines the cognitive spatial model one has built, and makes it harder to keep track of things.
In a complex, expert-level app like Xcode, utilizing window geometry is an important aspect of efficient use.
All-in-one window UI designs discard the advantages of a multi-window UI; we might as well be back on MultiFinder.
--
Rick
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