4 ms·
> My favorite compromise is a search that takes a user right to the button, and or can initiate whatever it is. This is how MacOS X's help menu search box has
by KennyBlanken 5y ago
> My favorite compromise is a search that takes a user right to the button, and or can initiate whatever it is.
This is how MacOS X's help menu search box has worked for over a decade, and it's brilliant. Type in a search and it shows you every menu item that matches, and rolling down the list shows you live where each menu item is.
I wish Spotlight search was similar - showing paths more readily, and making it easier to open the folder that contains the item that you want to look at.
- jffry 5y agoI don't know how you're supposed to discover this, but highlighting a file result in Spotlight and holding the Command key will show you where it is, and Command+Enter will open the parent directory in Finder with the file highlighted
- ddingus 5y agoThat's the problem. Not very discoverable, but pretty efficient for those in the know.
- KennyBlanken 5y agoGoddamn. I've been an MacOS user, and supported MacOS users, for ages and I had no idea this existed. Thank you!
- ddingus 5y agoI first encountered that method in NX CAD. Siemens is an old company who tends to get investments right. Apple uses Siemens design software, so who knows? Perhaps Apple had influence? Great implementation! At the time, I was in a heavy pre-sales role and would make the help system a part of the demo. I am pretty sure everyone saw high value there. And talk about complex, with depth, subtlety! That program demands more than mere buttons can deliver!
- ddingus 5y agoI first encountered that method in NX CAD. Siemens is an old company who tends to get investments right. Apple uses Siemens design software, so who knows? Perhaps Apple had influence? Great implementation! At the time, I was in a heavy pre-sales role and would make the help system a part of the demo. I am pretty sure everyone saw high value there. And talk about complex, with depth, subtlety! That program demands more than mere buttons can deliver! And my own ability to use the tool improved dramatically. I have 20 plus years doing sales, service, and support. OTC, SDRC, UGS (Both those two now Siemens, Soludworks, Solid Edge...) Hands down, these methods crush anything else I have seen.
- hrishi 5y agoSome of our inspiration definitely comes from CAD, NX CAD and Fusion. IMO the work they've put into making a mountain of functionality useful and intuitive to a new user has paid off.
- ddingus 5y agoAnd that's the functionality in front and planned to be favored by users. Many older features are available to those who know how to ask for them. Also, in terms of the geometry, how the system builds models, the feature version is stored with the features, and that version will build models in newer software, until migrated forward by a user. It's very complex.