Expression Blend and the "rest of us"
I have been using Expression Blend for quite some time and am now using Blend 2.0 previews. Blend is certainly very useful, but it would be a lot better if they could make some very small and simple changes.
Here is Blend on a wide screen monitor. In fact, its quite obvious Blend is designed for use on a wide screen monitor, and I am betting the Blend development team has only very large monitors or wide screens. The argument has always been that designers have large and wide screens.
1680 x 1050
(Click for larger view)
As you can see, there is a lot of room to work in the document area. However the tool areas have a minimum width. You cannot adjust them to be smaller. You can undock them, but you cannot choose where they dock, nor can you stack them. If you compare this against Expression Web, and Visual Studio, we have at least 3 different docking mechanisms. The one in Visual Studio works great, can we not stick to a single docking standard that works? There are still a lot of 1024 x 768 users out there. Granted, they are mostly laptops, but the 1024 x 768 resolution is still quite common. Here is what Blend looks like in 1024 x 768.
(Click for larger view)
As you can see, there is a lot of room to work in the document area. However the tool areas have a minimum width. You cannot adjust them to be smaller. You can undock them, but you cannot choose where they dock, nor can you stack them. If you compare this against Expression Web, and Visual Studio, we have at least 3 different docking mechanisms. The one in Visual Studio works great, can we not stick to a single docking standard that works? There are still a lot of 1024 x 768 users out there. Granted, they are mostly laptops, but the 1024 x 768 resolution is still quite common. Here is what Blend looks like in 1024 x 768.
1024 x 768
(Click for larger view)
In this view I cannot even see all of the document for a default window and must use scrollbars. Is it so hard to make the tool areas to allow smaller sizes? I can make them bigger, why can't I make them smaller?
Designers may all have 29 inch monitors running 1900 x something, but many laptops and schools still run at 1024 x 768. This certain helps enshrine Flash's status at schools, simply because Flash tools work fine on 1024 x 768.
(Click for larger view)
In this view I cannot even see all of the document for a default window and must use scrollbars. Is it so hard to make the tool areas to allow smaller sizes? I can make them bigger, why can't I make them smaller?
Blend Doesn't Demo Well
Many users first experience with Blend is at a conference or demonstration. It is very rare that I encounter a projector that can go higher than 1024 x 768. This means that nearly all Blend demos to large audiences are being done in 1024 x 768. First impressions matter! If for this reason and no other, the Blend team should think about 1024 x 768. Further more, it would only require a few low impact changes to make Blend more friendly at such resolutions (See section at end of this post).Designers may all have 29 inch monitors running 1900 x something, but many laptops and schools still run at 1024 x 768. This certain helps enshrine Flash's status at schools, simply because Flash tools work fine on 1024 x 768.
Short Cut Keys
Unfortunately there are other issues. For example, it is a single click to switch to XAML view. This is a frequent task.XAML View in 1024 x 768
(Click for larger view)
(Click for larger view)
The tool windows all remain. Why can they not auto hide when in XAML view? None of them can be used in XAML view except the project window. But wait! There is a hot key to hide and show the tool windows. Its Tab. But guess what? Tab in XAML view inserts a tab! So you have to remember to hit the hotkey before you change views. And if you forget, you have to either find the menu option, or hit a series of keys to go back to design, hide tool windows, then back to XAML. Or wait, I could click a button on the toolbar right? Well if there was a toolbar......
After I used Blend for a while on the desktop, in addition to learning it is really designed for a widescreen, I got the feeling that it was also designed a bit for the tablet PC. So I tried Blend on the tablet PC, and sure enough it works very well with the pen! It doesn't seem to have any special support for the pen, but it feels as if someone tested it and made it pen friendly. Most applications do not feel this way. First I hit the 1024 x 768 problem. But now I had no keyboard, and no toolbar, so XAML view and other items were enough to drive you mad.
But with my tablet I usually work in portrait mode. So one time I started up Blend to make a small edit. My new tablet is an ultralight, its 800 x 600, or 600 x 800 in portrait mode. Here is the result.
After I used Blend for a while on the desktop, in addition to learning it is really designed for a widescreen, I got the feeling that it was also designed a bit for the tablet PC. So I tried Blend on the tablet PC, and sure enough it works very well with the pen! It doesn't seem to have any special support for the pen, but it feels as if someone tested it and made it pen friendly. Most applications do not feel this way. First I hit the 1024 x 768 problem. But now I had no keyboard, and no toolbar, so XAML view and other items were enough to drive you mad.
But with my tablet I usually work in portrait mode. So one time I started up Blend to make a small edit. My new tablet is an ultralight, its 800 x 600, or 600 x 800 in portrait mode. Here is the result.
600 x 800
(Click for larger image)
(Click for larger image)
Like that nice big document area? Because that is as big as it gets. You have to turn on and off the tool windows using menus, or undock them (Which is not of much help either). With a few small changes, Blend would work better on 1024, and make it usable on tablets. Not many people use 800 x 600, but many tablet users do, and other design programs work just fine. Why can't Blend?
The only way to close it, is to open a menu, or have a keyboard close by. And not all tool windows have keyboard short cuts.
Zoom?
Blend has a neat feature that you can zoom the workspace up and down relative to the document area.Blend at normal zoom
(Click image for larger view)
(Click image for larger view)
Blend zoomed out
(Click image for larger view)
Zooming out makes all the tool windows smaller and more room for the document space. However zooming generally makes them unreadable and unusable on the monitors that use 1024 x 768. But it would be useful to zoom them in and out frequently. However the only way to change the zoom is to navigate a menu and change the zoom in a dialog!
(Click image for larger view)
Zooming out makes all the tool windows smaller and more room for the document space. However zooming generally makes them unreadable and unusable on the monitors that use 1024 x 768. But it would be useful to zoom them in and out frequently. However the only way to change the zoom is to navigate a menu and change the zoom in a dialog!
Zoom Dialog
(Click image for larger view)
(Click image for larger view)
Close that Tool Window
Well you can try. Notice something missing? There is no close icon.The only way to close it, is to open a menu, or have a keyboard close by. And not all tool windows have keyboard short cuts.
Easy Vital Changes
Making the following simple changes would make Blend much more usable on 1024 x 768 and other resolutions. Each of these changes are very simple changes and would have little or no impact on the code base.
I am very surprised that many of these were not fixed in 1.0. Now Blend is at 2.0 preview, and unfortunately no changes appear to be in sight.
- Add a tool bar - This is essential for those on a tablet, and makes it easier for those using a mouse too as they do not have to revert to keyboard or navigate menus.
- Remove minimum size constraint from tool windows - Allow us to shrink them as small as we want, even if it means displaying scroll bars.
- Zoom - Move the zoom function for the designer workspace into the main screen so the windows can easily be zoomed in and out. Currently it is in a dialog.
- Close Icon - Add a close icon to each Tool Window.
- Redo Keyboard Shortcuts - Many of the short cuts have conflicting keys (tab?) in other modes. Other short cut keys are just not well thought out. Finally, many functions are completely missing short cuts.
More Extensive Changes
Here are other changes I would like to see. I do not consider them so critical or as easy as the previously listed ones.
- Add some color - The Blend UI acts as if it is afraid of color. My last monochrome monitor was about 15 years ago. I understand the argument that the black and white is "cool" and designer like, but a little color here and there is very useful especially in tool bars (oh wait, there aren't any tool bars!) and the toolbox.
- Add a standard docking system - Allow us to move and redock the tool windows as we choose. Visual Studio has a very nice docking system. Make it an advanced option that can be turned on if somehow someone likes the current scheme.
<< Previous Entry Next Entry >>
Use my contact form to contact me directly.
