Alignment panel UI redesign concept proposition for the devs

[bbrother]

I did a quick redesign of the "Alignment" drop-down panel because I'm disappointed with the current implementation. Perhaps one of you (devs) will come across this post and think that it is an interesting proposition worth considering.

Current Alignment panel UI/UX shortcomings:
•    Dialog box to big for its content (space not used effectively)
•    Not all distribute options are included
•    Lack of "Key object" option in the "Align to" dropdown list
•    Alignment operations require to many moves / clicks from the user
•    Unnecessary command buttons (Apply, Cancel)
•    Poor combination of text field + drop-down list with slider is used as input field for numeric data:
–    an additional click is required to display the slider
–    problems with the precision of value changes caused by rapid mouse movements
•    User is not alowed to choose the "Align to:" option before performing an alignment operation
This casues a negative effect, that objects are leaping before the user can go and chose the right "Align to" option

 

Changes in the UI/UX and UX propositions:
•    Horizontal and vertical alignment controls combined into one section labeled as "Align" (A)
•    Included the missing distibute options (B)
•    For more precission, usability, less space a combination of text field + increment / decrement controls for numeric data input  is used
•    Reduced the dialog box to make it more compact (D)
•    Option "Key object" should be added in the "Align to" dropdown list (E)
•    After implementing "Key object" alignment,"First selected" and "Last Selected" completely lose their reason for existence and could be removed without compromising usability.
•    Amount of dropdowns is limited to the only necessary dropdown for "Align to" option to avoid unnecessary clicks

⚠ The user should have the ability to set the "Align to:" preference before performing the alignment action.

•    Removed command buttons (Apply, Cancel)
The alignment is a live on canvas operation so the "Apply" button is not mandatory. Every operation should be registered in history panel immediately after it is succesfully performed on the canvas.

Edit → Undo command from the "Edit" menu can with succes replace the "Cancel" command button.
To toggle the panel user should use the "Alignment" button in the toolbar or simply click outside the panel.

Here also a PDF version (cheat sheet) for download↓

Aligment_panel_UI_redesign_cheat_sheet.pdf

[Old Bruce]

My takeaway is that I will no longer be able to set separate Align to options for Horizontal and Vertical. I would need this occasionally. Vertical align to Spread, Horizontal align to First selected.

[bbrother]

3 hours ago, Old Bruce said:

My takeaway is that I will no longer be able to set separate Align to options for Horizontal and Vertical. I would need this occasionally. Vertical align to Spread, Horizontal align to First selected.

Hmm @Old Bruce may i ask how often do you use diferent "Align to:" options for horizontal and vertical alignment?
I'm curious because I almost never align objects this way.
I was thinking about cases like the one you mention during the redesign, but I figured these types of alignments are very rare and not very usefull. 
And the conclusion was that the benefits of leaving only one "Align to:" dropdown for both horizontal and vertical would be greater because aligments would require less user clicks and things would be more intuitive.