Membranophonist’s Ramblings

Based on Pages ’08 (3.0.2). Some of these apply to Numbers and/or Keynote as well.

Template Selection

1. The template category and template selector panes should allow type-ahead selection when either pane has keyboard focus. The category selector only jumps to categories based on the last input single character matching the first letter of a category label rather than performing string matching; if I type Le, Envelopes is selected rather than Letters. The template selection pane does not provide type-ahead selection at all.
2. Using Sim Daltonism, the yellow inner border used to indicate the selected template is hard to see for those with certain color perception impairments.
   
   This could be addressed by giving the selected template a distinct background shape.
   

Document Metadata

1. I’d like to see an Insert menu command to insert the document’s Title metadata, a variable that would automatically update when the Title is edited in the Inspector. Same with Author metadata.
2. If input before saving, the Title metadata string should be suggested in place of “untitled” as the filename when saving, with the complete text selected if the user wants to enter their own. Characters allowed in the metadata but not in filenames would be automatically replaced.

Miscellaneous

1. An Export All command in the File menu or some Automator actions to export documents in bulk would make it a lot easier to use Pages as the authoring application for documents to be viewed and edited by those using Word. The current process requires selecting the Export… command from the File menu, confirming the export format, confirming the file name, potentially accepting the replacement of an existing file, then potentially reviewing compatibility issues if special Pages dynamic information like date strings were used. For each document. All these options would have to be provided in an Automator export action, but the decisions would have to be made only once.
2. The chart data editor should display the series symbols next to their labels rather than a square color swatch.
   
3. Stealing a feature from MS Office (which is not generally recommended!), comment bubbles should display users’ IM presence status, providing a direct way to contact a person about their contribution to a document.

A bit of visual pleasantry for chat clients.

If you have Firefox 3 or Opera 9.5, check out the 4 frames in an animated PNG:

For browsers that do not yet support aPNG, here is the frame-by-frame:

1. Double-click on a contact in your buddy list
   
2. 1. The window zooms out from the location of the contact, starting with just the contact name and input field being displayed:
      
      If multiple contacts are selected, the names zoom out individually to a single window.
   2. The conversation display area expands between the titlebar and input area midway through the animation:
      
   3. The window appears at full size in final position:
      
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1. Click on a conversation participant’s buddy icon:
   
   
2. Drag and drop to your e-mail client:
   
   
3. A new message is created:
   
   
   
   Assuming there is an e-mail address associated with the IM handle in your address book, the message is pre-addressed.

A few ideas to improve the alignment guides in Apple’s Keynote presentation software, based on version 4.0.3.

1. Allow users to simultaneously create intersecting vertical and horizontal guides by dragging from the upper left corner between the rulers. This halves the number of drags needed to create a bounding box using guides.
   1. Click…
      
   2. …drag…
      
   3. …release at desired position.
      
2. Consistent with the above, allow users to reposition existing intersecting guides simultaneously by dragging from the intersection. The current behavior seems to default to just the vertical guide.
3. Allow users to copy and paste guides between slides using commands available in the Format menu and a contextual menu that appears when Control- or right-clicking on an individual ruler or in the upper left intersection of the two. The copying and pasting of guides would exist independent of the clipboard, similar to how styles are handled. Including a ruler unit selection sub-menu would make some sense.
   
   
4. Bind Control-Command-G to Show/Hide Guides; how to bind a shortcut to this menu command using System Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse > Keyboard Shortcuts is not obvious since it has to be bound twice — the command label changes from Show Guides to Hide Guides. Thanks to Rob Griffiths of Mac OS X Hints for the information on how to bind a single shortcut to a dual-state menu command.
5. Evaluate the colors of the slide canvas and objects to determine a highly visible and distinct color for guides. The default yellow is rather hard to see on a white canvas.

Based on iPhoto 7.1.3.

General

1. Clicking the bottom left Info pane while viewing a single photo switches back to the library/album view rather than allowing input.
2. When viewing a day with multiple events, dropping one event poster on another should combine the events.
3. Due to the distance of the search/filter field from the Library source list items, it would be nice if the magnifying glass was displayed at the right of the item being searched to make it more obvious that a search or filter was in effect. A small touch I find helpful in Contactizer.
   
   
4. When viewing individual images, it is not clear when videos are presented, possibly leading people to believe they are simply out-of-focus still images. Displaying the video camera icon within the photo pane would help.
5. When viewing an event, Command-Left and Right Arrow should navigate through events in the sorting order selected in the View menu > Sort Events.
6. Control- or right-clicking in the bottom toolbar area should present the same Show in Toolbar sub-menu found in the View menu.
7. The kerning of event titles is poor with some letter combinations. Notice the space between the T and o in “Toy”.
   
   

Keywords

1. The Keywords search is generally good, but you can’t type in Boolean queries once you learn the syntax. I’d like to be able to just type “Seattle or Tacoma” rather than having to click Seattle, depress the Shift key, then click Tacoma. The point-and-click cursor-based interface is nice, but should augment a keyboard-based one.
2. Keyword letter shortcuts should be displayed and function when filtering via keywords.
3. A flip-around animation of the Keywords window would be nice when switching between the assignment and editing modes.
4. Displaying a small x next to applied keywords on the palette would make it easier for those with color perception abnormalities (particularly monochromats) to differentiate applied and non-applied keywords.
   
   
5. The default button on the confirmation dialog that appears when removing applied keywords from the available set should be relabeled “Remove”. Though I understand why this dialog is displayed, it really isn’t necessary given Undo support. Suspenders and a belt!
   
   

Fullscreen Mode

1. When in fullscreen viewing mode, the bottom toolbar should appear when the cursor touches anywhere along the bottom of the screen rather than requiring the user to scrub over the actual toolbar area, making it consistent with the Dock’s hiding behavior.
2. Rating assignment keyboard shortcuts (Command-1 through 5) do not work in fullscreen mode when the Information HUD has keyboard focus.

When selecting multiple items to be sent via e-mail or IM or copied to another volume, it is helpful to know the total size of the items; many e-mail servers restrict attachment sizes and CDs and DVDs only hold so much.

The Finder provides this running total through the Inspector (Command-Option-I), which is both fairly hidden and changes based on the active view. The only method I know of for getting similar information in iTunes is to use the File menu’s “New Playlist from Selection” command (Command-Shift-N), then looking at the status bar. Status bars that display the sum of the selected items’ filesize (and length for linear media) can provide this information more conveniently.

Finder

1. Single file selected



2. Two files selected



3. Three files selected

iTunes

1. Single song selected



2. Two songs selected



3. Three songs selected

During my holiday visit to Seattle, I helped two people address disk space shortages on their Macs. While purchasing additional storage was not the solution I recommended in either case, it got me thinking about the issue.

There are many places to buy storage online, and a few of them allow you to filter the options based on the Mac the drive will be in or attached to. This is helpful, but it would be better to filter the list automatically based on the known system configuration without requiring user input.

1. The Warning Dialog
   
   I didn’t have a screenshot of the actual current dialog, so I had to work off an old screenshot I found. Regardless, the only important difference is the addition of the Additional Storage button.

   

2. 1. Compatible Storage List with Item Details
      
      The list is generated based on your hardware. For example, if you have added an eSATA controller, eSATA drives would also be shown.

      Showing the formatted capacity makes it easier to determine exactly how much additional storage you will get. The filesystem type in parentheses could be a pop-up menu to select different formats.

      Additional item details could include cache size, noise levels, power consumption and conservation features, seek times, etc.

      

   2. Compatible Storage List with Item Reviews
      
      The value of reviews really depends on the number provided, but even one can contain useful information not provided elsewhere.

      

3. Reviewing Your Storage Order
   
   
4. Placing Your Storage Order
   
   All credit card type logos would be fully opaque until the first digit is input. Once input, the matching logo remains opaque while the others become semi-transparent.

   Checking “Ship to a different address…” would vertically expand the window to accommodate another set of fields for shipping information. Billing and shipping fields would be auto-completed based on your address book.
   

The Mac Pro, FireWire, Internal, USB, and generic External icons are property of Apple. The Cuica hard drive icon is Metal OS from Carlos Reyes' Carlito Drives set.

An Alternate Approach

System information could be sent to a web-based store as part of a generated URL (similar to Google Charts) after clicking Additional Storage on the warning dialog.

Generally, you have some idea as to the expected social etiquette during an event when you are adding it to your calendar. Is it a meeting with a potential business partner? A date? Would it be irritating or embarrassing for your phone to burst into the latest Top 40 hit in the midst?

All phones have a way to switch them from audible to vibrate, but do you want to deal with that in the middle of a proposal?

The three options would be:

1. Phone default
2. Ring tone
3. Silent ringer

A ringer configuration interface should also be available in the iPhone’s calendar application. Event ringer settings would be synced.

Events that occur within a longer event (e.g., multi-day events) would override the enclosing event’s setting. If events overlap, the setting for the latter event overrides that of the earlier unless the earlier is set to silent ringer.

This would also be great for concerts, either because you don’t want to interrupt a violin solo or you won’t hear an audible ringer during the shred guitar solo (depending on the music). Also, finding what may be a physical switch is not necessarily easy in a darkened venue.

Users should be able to quickly change the audio output device without leaving their current context. This came to mind because I regularly change my output from speakers to headphones so I don’t disturb my roommates and upstairs neighbors. Before bed during the week, I change the output back to speakers so that I can hear my alarm the following morning.

For output switcher quasi-mode activation and cycling, either Control- or Command-Volume Down/Up would be easy to remember. Shift-Volume Down/Up is already bound to changing the volume without the feedback sound and Option-Volume Down/Up/Mute opens System Preferences to the Sound pane’s Output tab.

Consider my icons placeholders.

Headphones

Line Out

Digital Out

Overall, I’m very happy with 10.5. The new features are mostly useful and intelligently implemented and I’ve experienced only minor upgrade-related problems with third-party software.

General & Miscellany

1. Spotlight results are nearly instantaneous for even very broad searches. A very impressive improvement.
2. The menu bar opacity is not as bad as I thought it would be. I believe it was adjusted before the final release.
3. The smaller font size in the Help menu looks a bit odd next to all the menus using the standard size, though it is consistent with the Spotlight menu.
4. Foreground/background window contrast is much improved by the increased shadow depth and source list background and window titlebar color changes. Although I was never a zealous advocate of the Grand Window Style Unification (functional consistency is more important), I’m glad it has been done.
5. More than ever, Lucida Grande needs a smallcaps variant — too many source lists yelling at once. Contact Bigelow and Holmes!
6. Command-Delete replaces Option-Delete as the means of deleting full words to the left of the insertion bar.
7. Wrap-around using the arrow keys has been removed from the Command-Tab application switcher, though it still works with Command-Shift-Tab. I suspect this was done to prevent users from overshooting the left- and right-most applications, but I believe it is a poor choice; it is more efficient (and physically easier than the Shift-Command-Tab sequence) to press the left arrow while on the left-most application to get to the far right when many applications are open (and likewise when the right-most application is selected). If four or five applications are open, it is easy enough to reverse direction. This also makes it harder to get to hidden applications, which are placed at the right end once hidden.
8. If arrow key wrap-around is not to return, a subtle bumping animation like that when an iPhone list reaches the bottom would make it clear that it is possible to move in only one lateral direction. Additionally, allowing selection of the left- and right-most applications by pressing the up and down arrows (respectively) would be nice. This is already possible using the Home/Page Up and End/Page Down keys, but they are on a different part of the keyboard, requiring that the user move their hand from the inverted T.
9. Being able to scroll background windows system-wide does a bit to reduce the inherent modality of applications. It’s a non-destructive action that is easily undone and reduces the need to flip between windows and/or applications.
10. In addition to Command-click, Right- and Control-clicking on a window title bar proxy icon summons the path menu. I’m not certain this is new.
11. Regarding the rounded screen corners, who cares? My only screen corner complaint is that the uppers still do not visually indicate that they have infinite depth for activating the Apple and Spotlight menus.
12. The iTunes “rip complete” sound is now played when Installer completes an installation. Conceptually sound, but what if you have a CD ripping and a piece of software installing? How do you know which one is done? This is compounded by Spaces. This is part of why the Dock and Growl are useful feedback vectors; they exist independent of whatever else you are looking at (unless you hide your Dock…).
13. The Movies widget needs an “Add to iCal” button that opens iCal and, if necessary, prompts for selection of a calendar to which the selected showing will be added.
14. Something similar to my spring-loaded Dock idea has been implemented as a hidden setting. The application’s windows do not tile automatically, but you can trigger Exposé yourself or use Command-~ to switch. The default out-of-the-box behavior is that apps only open or spring forward after tapping the space bar.
15. The print dialog (now with progressive disclosure, as I suggested) will make Alan Cooper happy, though I don’t think he uses OS X.
16. The sound output list now updates immediately after plugging in headphones rather than only once you select the Built-in Output item.
17. The revised Software Update process is nicely done. The new flow makes the installation of updates feel more like something you can do once you have time to take a break.

The Finder

1. The Spotlight results window is no longer an orphan.
2. Alternating row background colors in List view. Finally!
3. Still no contextual menu on List view column headers to toggle column display.
4. The new Dock menu commands are nice additions, in part for reasons mentioned in the Dock section.
5. The Finder claims my iDisk has 1.36 TB of total space with 360.77 GB free. The .Mac System Preferences pane gives accurate information.

The Dock

1. The default look is not for me and I feel it is an inferior visual design. I like the simple, high-contrast alternative.
2. The opacity of Dock item text labels should be increased just a bit to improve readability.
3. When given keyboard focus using Control-F3 or Control-D, Dock type-ahead selection should search the entire object name for matches rather than just the beginning. This would be less of an irritation if marketing zombies at Microsoft and Adobe didn’t insist on prepending all their applications’ names with the company name.
4. I’m not yet sold on Stacks, but I do like the gradient selection background that appears when moving through the contents with the keyboard.
5. Dock menu commands to create new documents are all the more useful when using Spaces. Otherwise, you first have to switch to applications that are on other spaces, create the new document, then move it to the previous space. Note that space-application bindings interfere a bit; if bound, you will be switched to the app’s space after creating a document via the Dock menu, possibly moving you away from the space displaying information needed for your document, message, etc.
6. “New Thing” Dock menu commands in document creation applications such as the iWork suite and TextEdit would be nice for the aforementioned reason.

Spaces

Spaces is very solid for an initial release. It feels like a more evolved version of a little noticed application by Mac Murrett called Workspaces that was basically Exposé for virtual desktops. Alas, it broke with 10.4.

1. Space placement of windows should be retained across launches. If the number of spaces changes between launches, default to wherever the application is launched.
2. I would really, really like to be able to click on a window’s titlebar, invoke the birdseye view quasi-mode with F8, and then drag the window I grabbed to another space without having to re-grab the window.
3. Another way users should be able to move a single window from one space to another: hold a modifier key while selecting the window from the application’s Dock menu.
4. When removing a space-application binding, I do not think the application’s windows should be moved to the first space. You are not moving the application, just specifying that you don’t always want it to appear on a specific space.
5. To help with spatial orientation, the OS should route sounds generated by applications on inactive spaces through an appropriate audio channel. If you are viewing space 1 and iTunes is done ripping a CD on space 2, the completion sound should come from the right channel. This would only map cleanly along the horizontal axis, but audio perception experts may know how sound can be manipulated to seem as though it is coming from above or below.
6. The drag-and-drop method of moving single windows between spaces is great, but there is no way to relocate several of an application’s windows. A Dock menu command “Move All Windows to Space” with a sub-menu listing all spaces is basically how GNOME and KDE handle relocation. This command would of course only appear if Spaces is enabled. For drag-and-drop relocation of all of an application’s windows, holding Option while dragging a window would be consistent in scope with how Option is used in conjunction with the Close/Minimize/Zoom widgets. Windows would be moved as a group, retaining their spatial relationships. I am wrong. All of an application’s windows on one space can be moved by holding Shift or Control.
7. Edge flipping works as a means of moving windows between spaces. Excellent. You can also grab a window with the mouse and, while holding the window, use the keyboard to switch using Control-(Arrow or Number). It would be nice if diagonal switching was direct rather than moving in one direction (horizontally or vertically) first and then the other.
8. Edge flipping should also be triggered by dragged objects held at the edge of the screen.
9. Showing an outline of the Dock while in Spaces’ birdseye view would save users from having to reposition windows they accidentally place behind the Dock. Either that or using the same automatic repositioning as when a window is placed in the menu bar area. This behavior should be aware of Dock hiding.

Preview

Now with more Acrobat functionality!

1. The static size of the PDF Info window (Tools > Info or Command-I) means you cannot read long text strings in the General Information section; they do not wrap and there are no tooltips.
2. The Print button on the print preview window does not visually indicate that it is the default button mapped to Return or Enter.
3. Contextual menu commands for printing and exporting selected pages would allow users to more directly select pages to print rather than having to input page number ranges.
4. The Preferences window still looks like someone closed their eyes and hoped for the best while dragging widgets in Interface Builder.

Mail

1. You had it right the first time — Data Detectors belong at the system level! Mail is a logical choice for a testbed implementation, but they should be available system-wide.
2. The “Verify Certificate” dialog now includes a check box to add self-signed certs to your trusted list. Much easier than the “drag-and-drop then import” process required previously.
3. The Erase Junk Mail confirmation dialog now uses proper button labels rather than No/Yes.
4. I still don’t understand why the Erase Junk Mail confirmation is a floating dialog while Delete Messages is a sheet.

iCal

I generally like the redesign of iCal, but I will return to Contactizer once a 10.5-compatible version is available.

1. The Mini Month pane size is not retained across launches, always reverting to the default of two months. Having only one calendar (Contactizer uses Category metadata to differentiate items within one calendar) and a large display, this is a rather irritating bug.
2. A large “Today” text button rather than a small mysterious diamond! Raskin said something along the lines of “I’ve often seen text used to describe images, but never images used to describe text.”
3. The use of Helvetica is odd, but not something I mind. It’s consistent with the iPhone, but Helvetica is the iPhone system face.
4. The inline information overlays require too many clicks to view, edit, and dismiss. The Info drawer or floating window were far from perfect, but I prefer either one to the new method.

More as I explore.