Simplified menus

[PaoloT]

Hi,

I just interacted with someone to whom I suggested the Affinity Suite. A software engineer with no experience with page layout and design programs. He seems to like it, but find it too complex for a non-specialist.

I remember when programs included an Easy mode, where only the most basic commands were included in the menus, and only the most essential palettes and tools were offered to the beginner, or the user with no need to care to the details. Maybe this can be still a good idea.

Paolo

 

[MikeTO]

Having a toggle between Easy and Expert modes made for poor usability because there was no way for users to predict if what they were looking for was hidden. Developers that want to target beginners now typically create differentiated products at different price points.

Maybe Serif could someday create a simplified version of Affinity for beginners.

[fde101]

I think these are both bad ideas.  There are plenty of "design for dummies" apps out there already, no point in Serif wasting their time on another.

A separate "easy mode" is bad for the reasons @MikeTO outlined, along with others.

 

Personally I think the Layer menu could be split into two: one with the actual "layer" properties such as group/ungroup, hide, arrange/align, etc., and one with the more "graphical object" properties, such as Convert to Curves, Expand Stroke and the like, but I'm at a loss as to what to name the split-off menu - calling it "Graphical Object" or even just "Object" doesn't quite feel right.

[anto]

I think that Serif should call a spade a spade first, and not come up with something that causes misunderstanding. Because a layer is a layer, an object is an object, not a layer, a gradient is a gradient, not a fill and etc. The master page should be controlled from the Pages panel, not the Layers panel. There are many such small details. They wreak havoc on programs even among the functionality that is available..
Then everything will be clear. Now beginners are not because they get lost in the programs, but also because Serif twisted the terms and caused a lot of misunderstandings.