Then tell me where you read that selecting a rectangle should *always* be done starting from the top left and dragging down right. You're putting it as if the way you're telling it's supposed to work is the only way it should ever work, but all programs I'm using or have been using (including but not limited to GIMP, Inkscape, MS Paint, Paint.NET, Photoshop, several UML tools etc etc) allow selecting a rectangle starting from *any* of the 4 corners. And modifying this rectangle usually allows flipping the corners too. I believe this is enough empirical proof to show that I'm not as wrong as you'd like me to be. It's intuitive.
Okay I might be slightly wrong on the usability bit. Of course research has been done to find out what works for the *average* user. Expert users are generally not average users, agreed. But this also proves my point (indirectly) that there is not universal truth about usability, except maybe when you define it as usable to the average user. Always watch out when applying statistics. I dare to say that there are relatively a lot of "expert users" among the Hugin user base, so this group should not be denied. On 8 okt, 21:51, Yuval Levy <goo...@levy.ch> wrote: > Bart van Andel wrote: > > usability is not universal: different users like > > different approaches. > > ever visited a usability lab? usability is hard facts and has nothing to > do with likes or dislikes. [...] > the goals are: > - tangible improvements to the user interaction: shorter times, fewer > clicks, faster and easier access to functionality Being able to select from any corner will improve this. Imagine selecting a corner which is not the top left corner, dragging into the desired direction expecting to see a rectangle appear and instead getting nothing. I would think this must be a bug, not a feature... > - easier learning curve: an environment that keeps the user within > boundaries that make him feel safe while enabling all the functionalities. Why learn that to create a selection you *must* from the top left instead of allowing the other options too? What would you consider easier or more user friendly? I know what I'd prefer. > sometimes there are trade-offs - e.g. some boundaries may make the > newbie user feel comfortable but are a limiting factor to the expert > user; and such trade-offs warrant a preference. > > this is not the case here. I see no advantage to the flipping other than > a show off another useless feature. It slows down the newbie without > offering any tangible improvement to the expert user. You see no advantage. I *do* see advantage. You say it's a useless feature. I say it isn't. You say it slows down the newbie. I say it won't. Again, consider my "empirical proof" above. To my, and with my I guess lots of other people, it's pretty expected behaviour. I would very much like this feature. Disabling it using a preference is pretty easy, I'd think (pretty much a simple if statement). Note that this applies to the visual crop selection alteration only (dragging using the mouse). Crop values entered as numbers should not work like this of course, in this case users should just be warned about incorrect values. > show me a tangible improvement and we can *talk* of a preference. What more do you want me to write down here? I think I've typed my point more than often enough. I'd be happy to read what other users on this list think. -- Bart --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hugin and other free panoramic software" group. A list of frequently asked questions is available at: http://wiki.panotools.org/Hugin_FAQ To post to this group, send email to hugin-ptx@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to hugin-ptx+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/hugin-ptx -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
