CompuServe Messages

OK, my turn at the wishing well!!! <g> My MAIN wish is for a little re-thinking of the UI part of RL. The drag-drop metaphor is fine, but in general the information density in the interface and dialogs is quite low. Since the viewport only takes up a smallish total amount of space there isn't really a need for such a large maximized window — that would leave room on the desktop for other apps. So…. 1. Use "standard" sized buttons like Word/Excel (don't forget to support small/large buttons for 96/120 dpi displays resolutions — see Word for an example). 2. Reduce the size of the various enclosing boxes around the toolbars etc. They are really just wasted space. 3. The various object managers (dialogs) could do with some size reduction too. Try looking to see how Word and Excel stuff large numbers of options into a smaller space, but still end with clearly understood dialogs. 4. The various object managers could actually be folded into a single tabbed dialog (read property sheet under Chicago). Hope you don't mind the feedback — the product is really excellent and the UI aspect is pretty much the only thing I think needs some work. The drag-drop concept, BTW, is really very good. (As you may guess, in between my other work, I consult on UI design.) Tim P.S. Oh yes, one other request… Have a couple of testers hammer on the NT version for a few days and do a quick bug fix — it's still a little shaky. Tim