Leon Barnard's dashboard

Leon Barnard replied on November 02, 2009 16:34 to the idea "Confusing control of txt file profiling" in Ataccama:

Hi David,
I am responsible for the usability of the product and I agree that the "Generate Names" and "Load Names" buttons are confusing. There are too many buttons in that cluster. I will be working on simplifying this for an upcoming version.

The Create Profile wizard should be able to detect and set the column names in most cases, as shown below. This wizard appears if you select "Create Profile..." when you right-click on a text file.


Hope this helps in the meantime...

Leon

Leon Barnard replied on October 22, 2009 15:23 to the idea "Show some working progress whilst engine is running" in Ataccama:

Matthias,
Hello. I am responsible for the usability of DQ Analyzer.
I like your idea and I will add it to my list of usability problems to fix. I agree that this can be cause people to wonder whether it is still running or whether something is wrong.
I will post an update once we have added it to our schedule and will then change the status to 'Planned'. Thank you for the suggestion.

Leon

Leon Barnard shared an idea in Balsamiq on October 20, 2009 13:41:

Resize child components along with resized parent.

I often create mockups for dialogs and don't know in advance how wide the dialog should be to accommodate the different labels, etc. I know that I should add the Dialog/Window component last once the rest of the objects are in place, but I like to have it there so that it "feels" like a dialog while I create it ;)
It is often time-consuming to resize all of the fields to the longest one once I have added them all (or maybe I add a new field or change a label which affects the lengths). It would be nice to have the fields that are snapped to the inside edge snap lines to resize automatically when I resize the parent (e.g. Dialog/Window, Browser, or Rectangle/Canvas).

So, if I have something like this:

the Text Input field and Text Area would expand and contract with the Dialog/Window control (since they are snapped to the edges).

Leon Barnard replied on October 07, 2009 13:19 to the idea "Manual positioning of steps" in Ataccama:

Roman,
Thanks for your idea.
Regarding autolayout, you can autolayout only the selected steps. If you lasso around multiple steps and click either of the autolayout buttons, they will be arranged separately from the unselected steps. You can also use horizontal and vertical layouts together in this way.

Regarding moving steps with the keyboard, currently the arrow keys navigate between steps, which we feel is a convenient way to select steps when you want to edit their properties, so I am reluctant to change this behavior. However, we might be able to assign ctrl or alt+ arrow keys to move the steps. What would you think of that?

As an aside, if you want more precise control over the movement of steps, you can turn off the 'snap to grid' using the button to the left of the autolayout buttons, which will move steps one pixel at a time when you drag them with the mouse. Or, if you hold down the alt key and drag when 'snap to grid' is on, it will override this setting and allow precision movement.

Leon Barnard replied on August 25, 2009 09:55 to the problem "Window height decreases each time Mockups is launched" in Balsamiq:

Yup, appears to work. The window state is remembered and the height doesn't creep up like it used to. Thanks.

Leon Barnard replied on August 04, 2009 13:38 to the problem "Window height decreases each time Mockups is launched" in Balsamiq:

Yes, I would say it's a step backwards. The original problem never really bothered me, it was just more of a curiosity. It was at least a month or more before I even noticed it, I'd guess. But the inability to resize the window (issue #2 above) is an actual annoyance.

Leon Barnard replied on August 04, 2009 13:30 to the problem "Window height decreases each time Mockups is launched" in Balsamiq:

Technically, this does solve the problem I reported, but I don't like the side-effects. If I have Mockups maximized and I close it, when I reopen it it is no longer in the maximized state, although the dimensions are the same as the maximized dimensions. I see three problems with this:
1. it doesn't open in the same state as when I closed it,
2. I can't resize the window because the edges are off the screen (I need to move the window above the screen area to see the bottom edges),
3. it forgets the unmaximized dimensions that I had before.

I am on Win XP.

Leon Barnard reported a problem in Balsamiq on July 14, 2009 11:46:

Window height decreases each time Mockups is launched

This is a strange one and it's not much of an annoyance, but I noticed recently that each time that I launch Mockups the window height decreases by about 15 pixels or so.
So, if I maximize the application, then close and restart it, the window is now no longer maximized. I tried this many times in a row and found that it continued until the window was roughly half the height of my display and it didn't shrink any more from there. The top, left, and right edges remain flush with the edges of my display, it is only the bottom edge that shifts up.

This has been happening for at least 2 months or so and possibly long before that.

Version: 1.6.23 - 07/14/2009 09:40 11:28 (Air)
Flash Player Version: WIN 10,0,22,87

Leon Barnard reported a problem in Balsamiq on July 14, 2009 11:37:

Objects sometimes move ("jump") when selected

This is a long-time problem that I have only now gotten around to posting. For quite some time now, occasionally when I select an object it moves by a few pixels. As a consequence, the object location and the selection are not the same (see image).

I then have to nudge the object to reposition it where it was. I am certain that it is not caused by me moving the mouse slightly as I click.

Unfortunately, I can't quite pinpoint the conditions that cause it, nor can I reliably reproduce it. I did notice that after it occurs the black selection border and handles disappear when subsequent selections are made (see image). Perhaps it has something to do with trying to snap the object to another object?

I hope you can fix this, it is my biggest (only?) pet peeve.

Version: 1.6.23 - 07/14/2009 09:40 11:28 (Air)
Flash Player Version: WIN 10,0,22,87

Leon Barnard replied on June 30, 2009 15:43 to the idea "Use progressive disclosure for links section of property inspector" in Balsamiq:

I think "show links" would be good. And your point about #1 makes sense to me. Thanks!

Leon Barnard replied on June 30, 2009 15:05 to the idea "Use progressive disclosure for links section of property inspector" in Balsamiq:

Looks pretty good, works well. My thoughts:

1. It seems like the setting is stored application-wide (as opposed to per document or per object). Perhaps it would be better to remember the setting for each object? (although that would mean that all files created prior to this release wouldn't take advantage of this setting by default). Or maybe per mockup if certain mockups use links and other don't? I don't use links enough to imagine which way would be more or less annoying (i.e., seeing links collapsed when I expect them expanded and vice-versa).

2. I think the "Show" link might not be salient enough. I pictured some kind of arrow or icon, like a chevron or down/toggle arrow (maybe something like a mini version of the "redo" arrow). All the other controls seem to use some kind of non-text component for settings and I think this one might be easy to miss.

3. I'm not sure if this is how it was before, but the placement of the Links option varies between objects. It seems like there's not a consistent order of the properties. And, to me, Links should probably always be last.

4. The "Show"/"Hide" link moves when it's clicked. I think it should remain in the same place for easier toggling. For objects that can only have 1 link (e.g., button), the link jumps way over to the right when clicked (and for tabs, it just kind of "floats", which feels poorly-aligned, even though it stays in the same place). I think it would be better for the link text to stay in the same place and the drop-down(s) to appear/disappear below.

Leon Barnard shared an idea in Balsamiq on May 29, 2009 15:39:

Use progressive disclosure for links section of property inspector

For controls that support multiple links (like tabs), the links section of the property inspector can make the inspector messy (both visually and interactional-y). I find it a lot less clean than before. And since I don't use links it only makes my life more difficult.

What about making links a collapsible part of the inspector (that remembers its last state). So I can collapse it and just see something like "Links >" at the bottom of the inspector instead of a combo box for each linkable element. Users who use links would see it very similar to how it is now, except that "Links v" could be clicked to hide them.

Leon Barnard replied on May 27, 2009 08:44 to the problem "Can't open multiple files from Windows Explorer" in Balsamiq:

I repeated the action several times with the Next version and didn't experience the problem. Looks like it's fixed.

I noticed another issue that I've seen before but didn't make note of. Each time that Balsamiq is started the window height shrinks. If the application is maximized, then closed and restarted, it opens at about 95% of the full height (width remains 100%). The next time it opens at about 90% height and so on until it reaches about 50% height (it seems to stop there). I think this issue has been around for a while.

Leon Barnard shared an idea in Balsamiq on May 26, 2009 09:23:

Assign default file name for new cloned mockups

I often create several mockups that are slight variations on the same basic design. This is easy thanks to the New Clone of Current Mockup action. I often name them sequentially (like SettingsDialog1.bmml, SettingsDialog2.bmml, etc. or maybe SettingsDialog-variation1-1, SettingsDialog-variation2-1). Probably 95% of the time that I create a new mockup from a clone of an existing mockup I name it something similar to the existing one. It might be nice to default the file name for new cloned mockups to something like OriginalMockupName1.bmml (or _1). Even if the assigned suffix doesn't fit with my convention, at least I won't have to retype the majority of the file name. It would help support an uninterrupted workflow (for me, at least).

Leon Barnard replied on May 24, 2009 19:10 to the idea "Extend text fields to enable quick form creation" in Balsamiq:

Wow, I had this exact idea today! Yes, I would like to see this, and implemented exactly as you described. Maybe also a slider in the inspector to adjust the spacing between lines. Oh, and the left edge of all text fields should only go as far as the longest label. You might be able to do it using colons as the delimiters (since they often are anyway), so left of the colon is the label and right of it is the control. This could work at least for inline controls (not as well for the shoe/color examples above).

Leon Barnard replied on May 22, 2009 13:52 to the question "Feedback needed on Comic Sans replacement" in Balsamiq:

I really can't tell the difference between the two fonts. FWIW, I'm content with Comic Sans and I wouldn't want anything that's more sketchy/hand-drawn.

Leon Barnard replied on May 19, 2009 15:07 to the problem "Can't open multiple files from Windows Explorer" in Balsamiq:

Same thing happened to me.
It happened when I dragged the mouse to select multiple files in Win explorer and hit Enter to open them all at once. Balsamiq was closed at the time. Seemed to work ok when Balsamiq was already open.
I subsequently lost data when I accidentally saved the blank mockup (it got saved as an empty file).
Version: Next.129 - 05/19/2009 14:26 11:28 (Air)
Flash Player Version: WIN 10,0,22,87
I also experienced this with version 1.6.12

Leon Barnard started following the problem "Can't open multiple files from Windows Explorer" in Balsamiq.

Leon Barnard replied on May 19, 2009 15:01 to the problem "Closing a tab switches to a seemingly random tab instead of the next tab in order." in Balsamiq:

Yes, this seems to fix it. Thanks for the quick work.
Although while testing it I came across this problem, which actually caused me to lose data. I will post details there.

Leon Barnard reported a problem in Balsamiq on May 19, 2009 13:20:

Closing a tab switches to a seemingly random tab instead of the next tab in order.

I have several tabs open which represent 2 different projects. Tabs/mockups A1-A5 are project 1 and B1-B3 are project 2. I am done with project 1 so I would like to close all A tabs (which start with the same name) so that I can focus on project 2. I have A1 open and press ctrl+w to close it. It closes and Mockups switches to tab B2, forcing me to click on tab A2 before I can close it. This pattern repeats, with Mockups always going to B2 after a tab is closed. I would like to hold down ctrl and press w 5 times to quickly close all 5 A tabs. The close tab order should also be alphabetical/left-to-right.